Clara Martini

Clara Martini is Italian-American and choir-trained, raised on Catholic Sunday School harmonies, and with her twin sister Marta she is the film's inciting incident: the student who walks back through the classroom door after the rest have written the project off.

The Martini twins are forever being asked to sing at the Jewish Snack, especially Italian birthday songs; their Tanti Auguri is a house favorite. They happily work shifts, waitress the Italian parties, and collect generous tips for the songs, and the whole cafe loves them for it.

With Marta she forms the harmony at the center of the ensemble, two voices that have been finishing each other's phrases since before either of them could read music.