Claire Brazeau, oboe
Claire Brazeau is the newly-appointed principal oboist of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Her career with the orchestra began as second chair oboist, a position she held from 2014-16. An emerging concert soloist, this season marks her concerto debuts with the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, Culver City Symphony, and the West Coast premiere of Ken Ueno’s “Sawdust” a pocket concerto for oboe and ensemble with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players led by Steve Schick. Upcoming performances include chamber music with the Southern California-based series Camerata Pacifica, and a residency with new music collective Wild Up at National Sawdust in Brooklyn. An advocate of both new and old music, Claire also enjoys performing baroque and classical period oboes and has played with period instrument ensembles such as Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra and Ensemble Musica Humana. This fall she will perform classical oboe with Grand Harmonie in Boston and New York.
As a member of new music ensemble, Le Train Bleu, she has been a featured soloist in concerts at Bravo! Vail Music Festival in Colorado and in New York City. In 2015 she joined the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra as second oboist. An active freelancer, she substitutes with the Pacific Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, and the Los Angeles Bach Festival. On the East Coast, Claire has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, Da Capo Chamber Players, and the Berkshire Bach Society. Her festival appearances include the Lucerne Festival Academy, Yale School of Music Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Aspen, the New York String Orchestra Seminar, and the Pierre Monteux School. During the 2011-2012 season she served as a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome. Her time there furthered her passion for chamber music and imaginative programming. In Rome, Claire’s engagements included a self-curated concert sponsored by the US Embassy and Roma Tre University entitled Americana and Minimalism, a solo concert for the Pontifical Academy of Science’s Stem Cell Research Conference at the historic Villa Aurora, the collaboration and premiere of Rome Prize-winning composer Sean Friar‘s Etudes for English Horn and Piano, as well as baroque chamber music concerts and educational programs for children. Claire received an Artist Diploma from The Colburn School, where she studied with Allan Vogel. A triple major, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in East-Asian studies and piano performance, and a Bachelor of Music in oboe performance from Bard College and Conservatory. Her principal teachers were Laura Ahlbeck and Elaine Douvas; she studied piano with Blair McMillen. http://www.clairebrazeau.com