Clara Yuna Friedensburg
Clara (2007) grew up in a musical family and began playing the cello at the age of seven. She has attended the Young Talents talent development program at the Barratt Due Institute of Music with Ole Eirik Ree and Ernst Simon Glaser as teachers. In October 2023, Clara began studying with cellist Frans Helmerson at the renowned Kronberg Academy in Germany, generously funded by the Strauss Patronage.
"With an expressive and highly emotional vulnerability to her playing, Clara's powerful yet passionate tone and phrasing offers the audience an intense and unforgettable experience."
This is the feedback Clara got from the jury from the Swedish music competition Polstjärnepriset when she won the prestigious competition in 2025.
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At the age of eleven, she made her debut with Bruch's "Kol Nidrei" with the Barratt Due Youth Orchestra, and since then Clara has performed with a number of renowned orchestras: Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Gidon Kremer's chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica.
Her stage highlights so far includes appearances at the Verbier Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Kronberg Festival, the Bachwoche Ansbach, the Sion Festival, the Copenhagen Summer Festival and the Festival der Nationen in Bad Wörishofen, and the Festival der Nation in Bad Wörishofen – where she received the Prix Young Artist of the Year 2024.
"Music is emotion, power, and without limits. I want to discover and convey what it has to say and serve as its voice. Podium gives me a fantastic opportunity to do this."
Clara has received scholarsshops from ASAF, the Tom Wilhelmsen Foundation and the Hans and Stefan Bernbeck Scholarship. She plays on a cello build by F. Ruggieri in Cremona from 1688, generously loaned by the Anders Sveaas’ Charitable Foundation.
"Music is emotion, power, and without limits. I want to discover and convey what it has to say and serve as its voice. Podium gives me a fantastic opportunity to do this."
