Ritter then moved to Boston, where she worked with Ran Blake at the New England Conservatory. Ritter remained a contemporary of Blake until 1997, when she again moved back to Charlotte. While in Boston for that decade and a half, she became a mainstay on the scene. She established contemporary songwriting classes at both the New England Conservatory and Queens University, and worked with artists such as Dave Holland, Houston Person, Ricky Ford, Dominique Eade, Steve Swallow, and Stan Strickland. Ritter also established her own label, Zoning Records, through which she has released several titles. She has performed all over the U.S. and Canada, and has received grants and commissions in Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Georgia. Claire Ritter's jazz style is a modern sound, rooted in classical music and steeped in cool and light swing, but she is able to play considerable bop-inflected material, and is a composer of original music that crosses paths with the aforementioned disciplines. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi