MaryClare Brzytwa is a multi-instrumental composer/performer based in Cleveland OH. Specializing in electronic music, improvisation and flute, she draws from  experimental, jazz, computer music, free improvised and pop. She has toured extensively in theaters and clubs throughout the US, Europe and Japan as both side-woman and soloist playing festivals such as Festival des Musiques Innovatrices, Gilles  Peterson’s World Wide Festival, La Siestes Electroniques Festival, Unlimited 21 Festival, and the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival.

In 2008 MaryClare moved to Switzerland to collaborate with filmmaker Werner Penzel (Step Across the Border), curating his experimental music project Radio Village Nomade. This project was followed by a year of touring Europe as lead instrumentalist for the jazz project of pop producer Mocky (Jamie Lidell, Feist). In addition to her own solo recordings, she has also appeared on albums by and collaborated with people such as Lindstrøm, the Boredoms, Fred Frith, Jonathan Snipes, Mongolian Jet Set, Kevin Blechdom, Wobbly, James Brandon Lewis, Kevin Robinson, Preshish Moments and Shayna Dunkelman. MaryClare’s unique flute vocabulary and improvising can be heard on films such as Room 237 and This Moment is Not The Same. She also the creator of the Avant Tot music method, book, and teaching materials which teach music fundamentals via improvisation and graphic scores.

MaryClare studied flute and composition with Fred Frith at Mills College, where she received her BA in 2006. She also holds an MFA from California Institute of the Arts where she studied with Marc Lowenstein, Mark Trayle, and Vinny Golia. She is currently Director of Professional Development at Oberlin Conservatory where she advises and mentors students in entrepreneurship, artistic misson, and digital presentation. 

Selected Recent Performances

  • 06/30/2012 – The Stone, NYC, with Zeena Parkins, Shayna Dunkelman and Ha-Yang Kim
  • 04/01/2012 – REDCAT Studio Series
  • 10/16/2012 – STEIM, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 10/05/2010 – SuperMusique 31e SAISON : ACTUELLE ET VIVANTE
  • 06/13/2010 – Festival des Musiques Innovatrices, Saint-Etienne France
  • 10/08/2009 – Factory Festival, La Cigale, France
  • 07/04/2009 – Gilles  Peterson’s WorldWide Festival, Sete, France
  • 06/28/2009 – Siestes Electroniques Festival, Toulouse, France
  • 05/08/2007 –  Solo Set, The Stone, New York, NY
  • 09/06/2007 –  SF Electronic Music Festival, SF, CA