Hometown: Los Angeles, CA, USA

Korean American cellist, Claire Park, has garnered numerous national accolades, including the winner of NEC Lower Strings Concerto Competition 2025, Grand Prize at the LA Finals of the American String Teachers Association Competition, and the Bernstein Prize at the Mondavi National Competition. Most recently, she was a quarterfinalist at the Isangyun International Competition in 2025 and 12th Lutosławski International Cello Competition. 

She has graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees, where she studied under the guidance of Laurence Lesser and Lluis Claret. As an ardent orchestral musician, Claire has been a section member of New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, a guest cellist with A Far Cry in their 2023 “Unrequited” program, and an assistant principal of the New York String Orchestra. Claire has performed at renowned summer festivals around the world, including the Taos School of Music, Tanglewood Music Institute,  Moritzburg Festival Academy, Music Academy of the West, Spoleto Festival, Orford Musique Academy, and the Aspen Music Festival. 

Claire’s passion for chamber music has been a defining element of her artistic journey. She was the cellist of NEC’s Honors Quartets “Sano” and “Arcturus” from 2021 to 2023, performing at Jordan Hall at the end of every year. She also participated in the Music Academy of the West’s String Quartet Seminar with the Takács Quartet in 2023 and the Finckel-Wu Han Chamber Music Workshop at the Aspen Music Festival, where she was a New Horizon Fellowship recipient.