I'm moving unsourced material here, esp if it's a little "puffy." Megalibrarygirl (talk) 21:00, 2 May 2016 (UTC)Reply
- She has been praised by the New York Times for her “graceful tracery and lively, rhythmically vital writing”, the Philadelphia Inquirer for her “virtuosity”, “compositional wizardry” and “mastery with large choral and instrumental forces”, the L.A. Times for her “fluid and glistening orchestration” and by Opera America for her “vivid and galvanizing work” of “timeless beauty”. Her works are performed widely in the U.S. and abroad. Clearfield had the great privilege to have Margaret Garwood (composer most well known for her vocal music and opera) as her primary mentor for almost 4 decades until she passed in May, 2015. Jonathan Kramer, (composer, educator, music theorist) with whom Clearfield studied orchestration in NY was another important mentor. Her early music teachers also had an impact on her musical life: Dr. Herman Giersch and Leonard Murphy.
Clearfield has been awarded international fellowships at the American Academy in Rome as a William Penn Affiliated Fellow, the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center, Civitella Ranieri in Italy, Fundaciòn Valparaiso in Spain, Moulin à Nef in France, Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland and Oberpfalzer Kunstlerhaus in Germany. Other awards include composer fellowships at Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Center, Djerassi, Helen Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, Lucas Artist Residency at Montalvo, ucross, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ragdale, I-Park, Millay, Brush Creek Foundation, Hambidge Center, Marble House Project, Kimmel Harding Center and the Banff Centre. She was a winner in the 2013 International Alliance for Women in Music Annual Concert for electroacoustic music. She was a two time winner of The Leeway Foundation Window of Opportunity Award. Other awards include winner of the Theodore Front Prize for Orchestral Music from the International Alliance of Women in Music, Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts Award, Fellowship Recipient from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, Award for Outstanding Achievement from the American Composers Forum, Nancy Van de Vate Prize for Orchestral Music, American Composers Forum Subito Awards, National Honorary Member, Sigma Alpha Iota.
- where she studied with Maurice Wright. She was a two-time recipient of the John Heller Memorial Award for Excellence in Composition, recipient of the Helen Laird Tribute Award and was the first composer in the history of the university to receive the prestigious University-wide Presidential Fellowship. She was honored by Temple University as a Distinguished Alumna. She received an M.M. in Piano from the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts (now The University of the Arts) where she studied with Susan Starr and later served from 1986-2011 on the composition and interdisciplinary arts faculty. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors from Muhlenberg College, where she received a B.A. in music and first prize in Performance and Musicianship. In 2012 she was a recipient of the Alumni Achievement in the Arts Award from Muhlenberg College. Active as a pianist, she has performed with numerous groups including the Court of the Dalai Lama and has been the pianist in the contemporary music ensemble Relâche since 1990.
Educator
Clearfield served on the composition faculty at The University of the Arts from 1986 – 2011. She has also been visiting composer at the University of Chicago, Indiana University, the University of Texas at Austin, Dartmouth College, Michigan State University, Penn State University, The College of William and Mary, The Hartt School of Music, the University of Arkansas, Hope College, New Jersey City University, The College of New Jersey and the Rimsky-Korasakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia among others.
- Her parents loved (and still love) music and often played chamber music in the living room. Clearfield started playing piano at age 5 and later played flute and timpani in the school bands and orchestras at Cynwyd Elementary, Bala-Cynwyd Junior High and Lower Merion High School. She also played in rock, folk and world music groups. Her father is a physician and her mother is a painter. She has one brother.
