Claire Thaler still remembers walking into Blair School of Music for her audition weekend at Vanderbilt. As a violinist from Tallahassee, Florida, she had spent years imagining a future in music, but she wasn’t entirely sure what that future would look like.
“Seeing the student showcases and talking to current students made a huge impression on me,” Thaler said. “Everyone was so open about their experiences and so welcoming.”
Now, four years after graduating from Vanderbilt in 2022 with a bachelor of music degree in violin performance, Thaler is preparing for the next major step in her career: joining the Toronto Symphony Orchestra this September after two seasons with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
For Thaler, music has been part of life for as long as she can remember. Her older brother began violin lessons after the family moved from Southern California to Florida, and she quickly followed.
“I was the annoying little sister that wanted to do everything my brother was doing,” she said with a laugh. “I can’t really remember a time before playing the violin.”
Though she found success early through competitions and youth orchestra opportunities, Thaler said it was during summer music festivals in high school that she first began to seriously envision a professional career in classical music.
“Meeting students from other cities who had more exposure to classical music careers than I did gave me the motivation to start thinking about it seriously,” she said.
That path ultimately led her to Vanderbilt, where she studied under renowned violinist and Blair professor Carolyn Huebl. Thaler credits Huebl with shaping both her musicianship and her professional future, both through rigorous instruction and close mentorship during her four years at Blair.
“She changed the trajectory of my life and my career,” Thaler said. “Hands down.”
Huebl said Thaler stood out not only for her technical ability, but also for the depth of her musicianship and her leadership among fellow students.
“I am so proud of Claire’s appointment to the Toronto Symphony, which is a world-class orchestra,” Huebl said. “Claire was an outstanding student at Blair, winning the concerto competition and the Heard Prize. She was also an avid chamber musician and baroque violin student. Her musicianship, beautiful tone and discipline made her a role model during her time at Blair.”
Huebl added that Thaler’s success reflects the growing number of Blair alumni earning positions in major orchestras around the world.
“With this appointment, Claire joins the ranks of other Blair alumni who hold positions in the world’s great ensembles, and I couldn’t be happier for her,” Huebl said.
At Blair, Thaler found an environment that balanced elite musical training with close mentorship and a collaborative culture. Blair’s small studio sizes gave students frequent performance opportunities and close relationships with faculty mentors.
“The relationship we can cultivate with professors is so different than at other schools,” she said. “I still stay in touch with Professor Huebl all the time. She’s been incredibly supportive throughout all of my orchestral auditions.”
Some of Thaler’s favorite memories at Blair came not from major performances or competitions, but from the regular studio classes and Friday recitals that became central to her growth as a performer.
“I can’t think of another school where you get so much time to perform in front of your colleagues and professors,” she said. “You can come in at any stage of preparation and just get experience managing nerves and performing.”
Those experiences helped prepare her for the demanding realities of professional orchestral auditions, where musicians often perform behind screens for committees and music directors during multi-day evaluations.
After earning her master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, Thaler joined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on a series of one-year contracts. The experience gave her a deeper understanding of orchestral life beyond the audition stage.
“There’s so much more beyond just playing a good audition that you don’t fully understand until you’re in an orchestra,” she said. “You learn about being a good colleague, interacting with patrons, and keeping up with a rigorous performance schedule.”
Her path to Toronto was anything but straightforward. For the last two years, she has applied for a dozen tenure-track jobs, traveling for auditions while simultaneously performing with the ISO. Rather than becoming discouraged, she used the experience as motivation.
“I’ve learned a lot through the process,” she said. “Taking auditions is kind of another job in itself. It takes so much time and dedication.”
This spring, after another demanding season balancing orchestral work and auditions, she returned to Toronto for one final try.
“It was like, ‘Okay, one more and then take a break and reset,’” she said. “This time it just felt like everything came into place.”
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra audition process spans three days, with multiple blind rounds followed by a final performance evaluated by both orchestra musicians and music director Gustavo Gimeno.
“It’s a very grueling and stressful process,” Thaler said. “It takes a lot of grit and often a lot of auditions for things to finally come together.”
Now, with contracts signed and work permits underway, Thaler is preparing for her move north. She says she is especially excited by Toronto’s vibrant arts scene and cultural diversity.
“I love the city,” she said. “I love the diversity and the food and the culture and how many arts organizations are there.”
Her first season with the orchestra already promises memorable moments. One of the opening concerts will feature pianist Yuja Wang performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 alongside Debussy’s La Mer, a piece Thaler says has followed her through pivotal moments in her musical journey.
“It’s always fun to revisit a piece with new colleagues and a new interpretation and find new things to love about it,” she said.
As she reflects on her journey from Blair to some of North America’s leading orchestras, Thaler remains grateful for the support and opportunities she found at Vanderbilt.
“I’m just so grateful for all of the hands-on support and opportunities I got from Blair,” she said. “It’s just the best place.”