Praised for her “gorgeous tone and fine solo playing” (Nordjske), cellist Clara Abel has captivated audiences throughout the US and Europe on both modern and baroque instruments. She recently graduated from three degrees at The Juilliard School, where she specialized in both chamber music and historical performance, and was a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. She is also a recipient of the English Concert in America Fellowship and the 2025-26 Beebe Fellowship. 

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Clara is a dedicated chamber musician noted for her flexibility, vivid stage presence and generous collaborative spirit. She has held quartet residencies at Kneisel Hall, Norfolk, Yellow Barn, Marlboro, and Valley of the Moon Music Festivals, and has also performed at international festivals such as Tara (Belgium), Thy (Denmark) and Clasclás (Spain). Her chamber music performances have been described as possessing a “rarely-heard combination of virtuosity and poetic beauty” (Brattleboro Reformer), and her ensemble was voted San Francisco Classical Voice’s “Best New Discovery” in 2025. 

 

 Equally at home on modern and baroque instruments, Clara is a member of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Twelfth Night Ensemble, and also performs internationally with leading early music ensembles such as Pygmalion, The English Concert, Les Arts Florissants, and Jupiter Ensemble. 

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Recent solo engagements include her Lincoln Center solo debut with Juilliard415 conducted by Masaaki Suzuki, as well as performances of CPE Bach's A Major Cello Concerto in Alice Tully Hall and the Boston Early Music Festival under Paul Agnew as winner of Juilliard's HP concerto competition. Additionally she was featured as a soloist in Elgar's Cello Concerto with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA under James Ross, in a collaboration leading up to their summer tour.