Canadian-American violinist Maude Cloutier’s playing depicts vivid portraits of fiery emotion and electrifying dynamism, and together with her commanding stage presence has swayed and profoundly impacted audiences throughout the continent over the last decade. A strong believer in breaking down age-old expectations of what classical musicians should aspire to become, her diversified career is fueled by her sincere love for music of all times and places.

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Since 2022, she has served as Artist-in-Residence for M.U.S.i.C. Stars in the Classics, with whom she collaborates in curating and performing classical music programs with other talented young musicians for the greater Cleveland community. In February of 2023, she was appointed Violinist-in-Residence at the Church of the Western Reserve, and also frequently collaborates with Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple as a guest artist. An integral part of the local musical scene, Maude performs private and public events for distinguished arts organizations such as Opus 216, Piano Cleveland, Tuesday Musical Association, Cleveland Museum of Art, and Apollo’s Fire. She has performed in distinguished concert halls throughout North America, in Northeast Ohio notably the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium, the Maltz Center for Performing Arts, and Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center.

 

She also fosters a special love for jazz, improvisation, and folk music. She learned to improvise and read jazz charts from her experiences playing with the ensemble Opus 216. Then in 2022, she co-created a Turkish folk music ensemble with Mehmet Gencer, President of Cleveland’s Turkish Cultural Garden, that headlined that year’s Cleveland One World Day at the Centennial Plaza. In the fall of 2023, she was invited to join the inaugural CIM Global Music Ensemble led by Grammy-winning cellist Mike Block. Her own improvisations, compositions and arrangements can be heard in various recitals at the Cleveland Institute of Music as well as local concert series such as Stars in the Classics.

 

A devotee of music from all time periods, she has also specialized in music from both ends of the classical spectrum. Since 2023, she plays baroque violin with Case Western Reserve University’s Historical Performance Program, with whom she is playing a historically informed performance of Handel’s Messiah at the Maltz Performing Arts Center in April 2024. In addition, she is equally enamored with 20th- and 21st-century classical music. She has premiered over a dozen new works to date, many of which were written for her or in collaboration with the composer. She is also a violinist for the Antigone Music Collective, a nonprofit organization dedicated to performances of new music, and frequently appears with the CIM New Music Ensemble.

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Maude has received diplomas from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2021 and 2023 respectively, and currently studies with Ilya Kaler and Dr. Olga Dubossarskaya Kaler. At CIM, she completed four semesters in the Advanced Piano Trio Program with Sharon Robinson, served as concertmaster of the CIM Orchestra, and has performed in masterclasses for distinguished artists such as Joan Tower, Chen Yi, Keith Robinson, Philip Setzer, and Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, as well as various members of The Cleveland Orchestra.

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Maude began playing the violin when she was 4 years old, and at age 13 made her solo debut with orchestra in the Hilbert Circle Theater in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has since soloed with several orchestras in Northeast Ohio, after winning their local concerto competitions. In 2017 she began studying with Jan Mark Sloman, her greatest mentor and influence, and studied with him until his passing in 2022. Maude’s journey as a violinist has also been greatly influenced by Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Mauricio Fuks, Joel Krosnick, Gwen Krosnick, Laurie Smukler, and members of the Verona, Juilliard, and Dalí string quartets.

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Maude is grateful to be playing a 1787 Julius Lombardi violin graciously loaned to her by Kenneth Warren & Son Ltd. in Chicago, and plays a fine bow by renowned contemporary bow maker Charles Espey which was purchased for her by an anonymous donor. She has also been generously supported by the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation, and received a 2022 Fellowship Grant from Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics.

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