Teacher Profile: Clare Larsen

About Clare Larsen

Clare Larsen is a violin teacher and musician based in Seattle, WA. Clare’s interest in music began early on and originally started on the piano at age 8. She joined middle school and high school band on the euphonium where she was selected for honor band multiple times. In addition, she started violin lessons at the age of 11 which became her main focus along with composing. Lacking a school orchestra, Clare joined two community orchestras in high school.

Clare attended Seattle Pacific University to further her music education. She received a BA in music composition and studied violin with Ilka Talvi, previously a concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony. Clare also studied composition with Dr. Stephen Newby at SPU. Since graduating in 2019, Clare has taught the violin to young students both in person and virtually during the pandemic.

Having learned from the Suzuki method, herself, Clare typically uses this method to start off her students. However, she takes her student’s interest into consideration for supplemental materials. Clare also likes to highlight composers not from the typical Western classical repertoire, opening students up to works they might not otherwise hear, play, or study.