Claire Marie Blaustein has been studying the violin since age 4. After playing for 14 years in orchestras and chamber groups all over the Pittsburgh area, and at summer festivals like Interlochen and Meadowmount, she went off to college, working towards a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Indiana University, Bloomington.

While at IU, she began her career as a music critic by setting out to save the student paper from furthering its blunder of hiring freshman biology majors to write about the many concerts happening on campus. She joined the staff of the Indiana Daily Student, and discovered a talent and a passion for writing about music.

After IU, she went on to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario to complete a Masters degree in Music Criticism, with a thesis entitled “A Critic On The Edge,” which explored the relationships between a critic, the publication, her readers, and the music she discusses. Claire writes for publications such as The Washington Post, The Music Scene, Exclaim! Magazine, and has been an intern and commentator for National Public Radio.