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2009-2010: Graduate Research Assistant (Colloquium Coordinator, Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium)

University of Guelph

Claire is an undergraduate History major and Music minor at the University of Guelph. As a history student she is focused on Canadian history. As a music student she is interested in the development of traditional and popular music through collaborations of diverse classes, cultures and genders. Playing the violin, she has become involved with various music ensembles at the University including the Contemporary Music Ensemble with Ellen Waterman and Joe Sorbara, Chamber Music Ensembles and student-led classical ensembles for the annual Music Symposium. She has involved her violin playing in various community bands and projects including Rouge, The Shake It Bitches, Meredith Grant, and the graphic novel set to a live band called Le Cyc. Claire has experimented with playing jazz on the violin and was immediately drawn towards volunteering at the Guelph Jazz Festival as another exciting hub of music in Guelph. However, Claire’s favourite form of improvisation is dancing, which she also finds very accessible as an undergraduate in Guelph.

Improvisation is, simply put, being and living this very moment. No one can hide in music, and improvising in music is to be truly in this very moment and being completely yourself, with all your qualities and faults. It is probably the most honest state for a human being to be in.

– John McLaughlin in an interview with Daniel Fischlin.