Cello-wielding songstress, Monique Clare hails from the foothills of Mount Coot-tha and delivers raw, modern folk. Representing the Folk Alliance Australia as their current Young Artist of the Year, she is broadening the landscape of Australian music with her innovative writing for voice and cello. Between deep explorations into the music traditions of Scotland, Sweden, and the USA, a classical music degree and a Radiohead obsession, her songs are a melting pot of influences. Gripping melodies and lyrics are woven between the earthy tones of her instrument, born out of old traditions but injected with newfound ideas. Her debut solo EP, By The Stars, was released in August 2017, backed by a Pledgemusic campaign that went far beyond its target and drew support all the way from the USA, UK, Germany and Japan.

In 2016, Monique spent three months immersing herself in folk traditions in America, with the help of grants from the Australia Council and Queensland Government. She has gained a reputation as one of the nation’s most exciting emerging folk cellists, having performed across Australia at major events including Woodford and the National Folk Festival. She has previously appeared in a number of previous projects, as a member of The Mulberry Collective and award-winning duo Rhiannon & Monique, and as a guest with The String Contingent, the Hanneke Cassel Trio, the Viola Cloning Project and more. She is a passionate educator, and teaches at Sunshine Fiddle Camp and Alasdair Fraser’s Stringmania. Performing and teaching has taken her as far as Afghanistan, where she held a two-week residency at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music as part of the String Contingent.