Claire Lewis

Assistant Conductor, Orion Youth Symphony Orchestra

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Claire Lewis is a conductor and pianist based in New York City. Claire is the recent awardee of the Harmony Fellowship for Underrepresented Conductors, assisting and conducting the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. She joined the Richmond Symphony as their Conducting Apprentice, working closely with the Richmond Symphony, Virginia Opera, and the Richmond Ballet. Claire was also selected for the Taki-Alsop Conducting Fellowship Mentoring Program, where she worked with the world’s leading women conductors. 

 

Claire made her conducting debut with the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall at the age of 19, as the winner of the Respighi Prize in Conducting. She has recently conducted orchestras including the Orchestre Métropolitain, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, and National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and has served as assistant conductor for performances with the Colorado Symphony, Washington Choral Arts, and the Chamber Orchestra of New York. Claire was the co-founder and Vice President of the non-profit San Marcos Youth Strings from 2017-2019. 

When Claire was 13, she became the youngest graduate of Palomar College, earning an Associate’s Degree in Science and Math. She then worked with William Wolfram at Manhattan School of Music during her undergraduate studies in classical piano, and has since collaborated with Wolfram as a conductor. Claire earned her Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, under the tutelage of Marin Alsop and Joseph Young.

 

Additional conducting mentors include Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gerard Schwarz, Jose-Luis Novo, and Ulrich Windfuhr.