Claire Janezic
Claire Janezic (b. 2000) is an American carillonneur now living in Belgium. She teaches carillon, harmony, and piano.
Claire’s music education started at age six under the piano tutelage of Ruth Demaree Peck, herself a student of Nadia Boulanger. She furthered her music education at the Eastman Community Music School, graduating with a Pre-Collegiate Diploma in Clarinet Performance. She was lucky to be a music theory and composition student of Margaret Henry. In high school, she received the Harry Messina Award for Music Theory and Composition and the Howard Hanson Award for Excellence in Piano Performance.
Claire began her carillon journey studying under Doris Aman at the University of Rochester, where she graduated in 2022 with a Music and History double-major and an Audio and Music Engineering minor. During her final years at the University, she served as a carillon instructor and organized a weekly carillon concert series.
Claire’s carillon education continued under Koen Van Assche and Koen Cosaert at the Royal Carillon School ‘Jef Denyn’ in Mechelen, Belgium. She studied through a Fellowship from the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF), graduating in June 2023. Her thesis was entitled “Barber, Menotti, and Rota in Bok Tower: An Analysis of the first published North American Carillon Music.” She studied the following year with Geert D'hollander as a Blanchard Carillon Fellow at Bok Tower Gardens (FL, USA), where she also frequently performed concerts. In 2026, she obtained a Master of Music in Carillon & Music Education at LUCA School of Arts, Lemmens campus in Leuven, under Dr. Carl Van Eyndhoven. Her thesis related to the best technical usage of carillon practice keyboards.
In July 2024 Claire was laureate of the International Carillon Competition "Queen Fabiola" in Mechelen (BE), and in September 2024 she won the first prize of the International Carillon Interpretation Competition in Brielle (NL).
Claire performs worldwide as a solo artist, in a duo with Sydney Nguyen (The Fellowship of the Ring), and in a contemporary trio with bass clarinet, played by Amanda Stezenski, and percussion, played by Daan Wilms. She has performed at many festivals and Congresses and is known for her performance of contemporary carillon music.
Claire is proud of her broad musical experience, which includes gamelan ensembles, musical direction, keyboards, and study in sound engineering. She is interested in the unique sonic characteristics of the carillon, and enjoys working with composers and spearheading initiatives for the creation of new carillon music.