Clara Lichtenstein (October 21, 1863 – May 3, 1946) was a Hungarian-born pianist and educator.

Lichtenstein was born in Budapest in 1863.^[1] Her maternal grandfather was the German singer Traugott Gey [de], and her uncle was the artist Leonhard Gey.^[2]

She studied at the Charlotte Square Institution in Edinburgh, where her uncle George Lichtenstein was a director.^[3] In 1880, she performed piano duets with Sir Charles Hallé.^[4] She continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Vienna; she is said to have also studied with Liszt around this time.^[5]

Following her uncle's death, Lichtenstein became principal of the Charlotte Square Institution. In 1898, she became a member of the Royal Society of Musicians. In 1899,^[6] she was invited by Lord Strathcona to organize a music department at the Royal Victoria College (later McGill University) in Montreal.^[2][7] In 1904,^[8] she became vice-director and head of staff of the new McGill Conservatorium of Music.^[9] She taught piano, voice, music history and music theory until 1929.^[5][10] She also gave public lectures in Montreal.^[11]

Her students included Pauline Donalda,^[12] Ellen Ballon,^[13] Maud Allan,^[14] Marguerita Spencer, jazz pianist Max Chamitov,^[15] and bass singer Edmund Burke.^[5]

Lichtenstein retired to England in 1929, and died in Swanage, Dorset, in 1946, in her eighties.^[5][10] Clara Lichtenstein Hall, a small performance hall at McGill University, was named in her honour.^[16] In 1979, as part of the conservatory's 80th anniversary events, pianist Janet Schmalfeldt gave a recital in memory of Clara Lichtenstein, featuring works by Bach, Schubert, Schumann, and Liszt.^[17]