Praised for her “gorgeous tone and fine solo playing” (Nordjske), cellist Clara Abel enjoys a colorful performing career on both baroque and modern instruments. 

 

Clara is a vibrant and flexible chamber musician noted for her sensitive ensemble skills and vivid stage presence. Chamber music lies at the heart of her musical experience. She has studied under the Brentano and Guarneri Quartets as well as three generations of Juilliard String Quartet members, and has held quartet residencies at Kneisel Hall, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Valley of the Moon Music Festival, as well as off-season residencies at Yellow Barn and Marlboro Music Festivals. Her recent performance with the Tempest String Quartet at Marlboro Music Festival’s Potash Hill Campus was praised for its “rarely-heard combination of virtuosity and poetic beauty” (Brattleboro Reformer). Her ensemble Quartet Amizia (Fellowship Quartet at Valley of the Moon Music Festival in 2025 and 2026) was named winner of San Francisco Classical Voice’s “Best New Discovery” Award in 2025. 

 

As Juilliard’s Historical Performance concerto competition winner, she performed CPE Bach’s A Major Cello Concerto with Juilliard415 in Alice Tully Hall and at the Boston Early Music Festival under Paul Agnew. Other recent solo highlights include Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto RV 416 with Twelfth Night Ensemble at Austin Chamber Music, Elgar’s Cello Concerto with NYO-USA, and her Lincoln Center solo debut conducted by Masaaki Suzuki. She has recently been involved in an extensive project of bringing a newly-discovered 18th century cello manuscript to life, which has included modern-day premieres of works by Scarlatti and Gabrielli among others. 

 

Clara delights in performing with early music ensembles such as Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Twelfth Night, Pygmalion Ensemble, The English Concert, Jupiter Ensemble, Les Arts Florissants, and Teatro Nuovo. She loves to travel, and has performed throughout the US, Europe, Asia, and South America. 

 

Clara was living in Paris during 2025-2026 as a Beebe Fellowship recipient. She holds three degrees from The Juilliard School, where she specialized in chamber music and historical performance and was a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. She is immensely grateful to her teachers, Joel Krosnick and Phoebe Carrai, as well as her coaches and mentors.

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