Claire Youn

Claire Youn is a senior attending Sunset High School in Portland, Oregon, who started her violin studies at age five under the instruction of Hae-Jin Kim. As a solo musician, Claire won first place in the American Protégé: International Piano and Strings Competition in 2021 and received second prize in both the 2020-2021 Canadian International Music Competition and the GLORY Int’l Competition. In 2022, Claire won first place in the OMEA Oregon State Chamber Ensemble Contest and second place in the Monday Musical Club Scholarship Competition, and won the first prize in the Jeannette Scott Briggs Scholarship Award High School Division this year.

She has been actively involved in many chamber music groups and orchestras. In 2015, Claire joined the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association, where she was Principal Second Violin in seasons 98 and 99. She played in the NAfME All-National Honors Symphony and OMEA All-State Orchestra, and in 2022, performed as the Assistant Principal in the Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall, NYC by WorldStrides. This year, she performed as the Assistant Concertmaster in the NAfME All-Northwest Orchestra. She participated in the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute in 2021 and attended Interlochen Arts Academy’s Violin Intensive Camp in the summer of 2022. She performed in masterclasses coached by Olivia de Prato and Maya Bennardo from the Mivos Quartet, Teresa Stanislav from the Calder Quartet, the Modigliani Quartet, Ara Sarkissian, Jun Iwasaki, and Alexi Kenney.

Claire is enthusiastic about teaching and giving back to the community, and is honored that she has the opportunity to do so as Regional Director of the Portland Metropolitan Region.

(Fall 2023)