Clare Shore facts for kids

Clare Shore (born in 1954) is an American composer, a person who writes music. She is also a music educator, meaning she teaches music. Besides that, she is a mezzo-soprano, which is a type of singer with a medium-low voice, and a conductor, someone who leads a musical group like an orchestra.

About Clare Shore

Clare Shore started her music journey by studying how to write music (composition), how to sing (voice), and how to play instruments like the oboe and saxophone. She earned her first degree from Wake Forest University in 1976. She then continued her studies, getting a master's degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1977.

She went on to study with some very famous composers like David Diamond and Vincent Persichetti. She earned her highest degree in music, a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition, from the prestigious Juilliard School in 1984.

Besides writing music, Shore has also taught music at many well-known schools. These include The Juilliard School, Fordham University, and the University of Virginia. Her musical pieces have been performed in many countries around the world. Today, she lives in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Awards and Recognition

Clare Shore has received many special awards and honors for her musical talents. These awards often provide support or recognition for artists. Some of her notable awards include:

• Irving Berlin Fellowship in Memory of Jerome Kern
• Alexandre Gretchaninov Memorial Award
• Grant to Young Composers (1983)
• ASCAP Standard Awards (since 1982)
• Composers Assistance Grants from the American Music Center
• MacDowell Colony Fellowship
• Atlantic Center for the Arts fellowship
• Artist-in-Education Grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts
• Contemporary Record Society grant
• Composer Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts

Her Music Works

Clare Shore writes music for many different types of musical groups. She composes for large orchestras, smaller chamber ensembles (groups of a few instruments), choral performances (groups of singers), and solo voice (one singer).

Here are some examples of her musical pieces:

• Concerto for Bassoon and String Orchestra (1985)
• Intermezzo (1984)
• Angels from the Sand for Violin, Guitar and Horn in F (1993)
• Brass Quintet (1985)
• Canonic Polemic for Clarinet, 'Cello and Piano (1985)
• Cool Spring Meditations for Guitar (1987)
• Cycle de Vie for Bassoon and String Quartet (1989)
• Four Dickinson Songs for Soprano and Woodwind Quintet (1982)
• Game Piece #1 for Brass Quintet
• July Remembrances for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra (1981)
• Les Soeurs for Flute and Bassoon
• Maya's Song for Mezzo-soprano, Synth. & Perc. (with words by Maya Angelou) (1988)
• Nightwatch for Woodwind Quintet (1983)
• Oatlands Sketches for Organ (1986)
• Prelude and Variations for Piano (1981)
• Queen Esther for B♭ Clarinet, Narrator and Dancer
• Rebecca's Gift for Violin, 'Cello and Piano
• Rondo for Bells (for a 4-octave set of bells) (1977)
• Rules for Solo Melody Instrument
• Woodwind Quintet (1978)

You can find Shore's music on various record labels, including CRS, Owl Recordings, and Opus One. Some of her recorded works include:

• The Prism Orchestra Audio CD (1990)
• Nocturnos De La Ventana/July Remembrances Audio CD (1995)
• Nightwatch
• Oatlands Sketches