Claire Helene Bevan

Piano

Claire has been a piano instructor for 12+ years. She holds a BM Piano Performance with pedagogy emphasis from the University of Southern Maine, where she studied piano with Dr. Laura Kargul and Dr. Annie Antonacos, and pedagogy with Christine Kissack. The USM faculty awarded her a talent scholarship for the duration of her studies and she received a student achievement teaching recognition award from the Music Teachers National Association. In Camden, she studied with Leitha Christie and Glenn Jenks. While at Principia College in Elsah, IL, she studied with Dr. Marie Jureit-Beamish. She has also been coached by Cheryl Tschanz Newkirk of Waterville, Virginia Eskin of Boston, and George S. Lopez (Bowdoin Beckwith artist-in-residence). She taught in the Portland area and in several schools before moving back to mid-coast Maine in 2016 when she took over The Piano Room in Camden from her Mom, Mary Bevan. As an active church musician since 2016, Claire loves ministering to hearts and minds in a wide variety of styles. She is Music Director at First Universalist in Rockland, where she also enjoys collaborating with other musicians. For over 15 years, she volunteered as a pianist at a spiritual retreat she attended annually in New York City. She also holds a BA in English and Environmental Science from University of Chichester, United Kingdom. A job as a news reporter originally brought her to Maine.