Mara McClain

Mara McClain is a freelance musician in the Chicago area. She currently performs with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, The Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and she frequently serves as principal cellist with the Chicago Philharmonic. McClain also performs chamber music throughout the city with the Candlelight music series through Fever, and during the summers in Door County Wisconsin as part of the Midsummer Music chamber music festival. Before her move to Chicago, she was a member of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, in Birmingham AL, from 2006–18. Prior to her position with the Alabama Symphony, McClain served as principal cellist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and attended the Cleveland Institute of Music in both the pre-college Young Artists Program and for her bachelor’s degree in music studies. Her teachers were Richard Aaron and Merry Peckham. McClain has participated in many summer festivals, including those of the Aspen School of Music, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan.