Anna Clyne
Short Biography (526 words):
Described as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” in a New York Times profile and as “fearless” by NPR, GRAMMY-nominated Anna Clyne is one of the most in-demand composers today, working with orchestras, choreographers, filmmakers, and visual artists around the world. Clyne was named by Bachtrack as one of the top ten most performed contemporary composers in the world and the most performed living female British composer in both 2022 and 2023.
Clyne has been commissioned and presented by the world’s most dynamic and revered arts institutions, including the Barbican, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Philharmonic, MoMA, Philharmonie de Paris, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, San Francisco Ballet, and the Sydney Opera House; and her music has opened such events as the Edinburgh International Festival, The Last Night of the Proms, and the New York Philharmonic’s season.
Clyne often collaborates on creative projects across the music industry, including Between the Rooms, a film with choreographer Kim Brandstrup and LA Opera, as well as the Nico Project at the Manchester International Festival, a stage work about pop icon Nico’s life that featured Clyne’s reimagining of The Marble Index for orchestra and voices. Clyne has also reimagined tracks from Thievery Corporation’s The Cosmic Game for the electronica duo with orchestra, and her music has been programmed by such artists as Björk. Other recent collaborators include such notable musicians as Jess Gillam, Jeremy Denk, Martin Fröst, Pekka Kuusisto, and Yo-Yo Ma.
Clyne’s works are frequently choreographed for dance, with recent projects including the world premiere of choreographer Pam Tanowitz’s dance set to Breathing Statues for the Royal Ballet in London and performances of DANCE by the San Francisco Ballet with choreography by Nicolas Blanc. Her fascination with visual art has inspired several projects including ATLAS, inspired by a portfolio of work by Gerhard Richter; Color Field, inspired by the artwork of Mark Rothko; and Abstractions, inspired by five contemporary paintings. In addition, Clyne seeks innovation through new technology, developing the Augmented Orchestra with sound designer Jody Elff; the technology expands the sound-world of the orchestra through computer-controlled processes, and was premiered in Wild Geese at the 2023 Cabrillo Festival.
In 2023-2024, Clyne serves as Composer-in-Residence with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their Artistic Team; as Composer-in-Residence at the BBC Philharmonic, and as Artist-in-Residence with Symphony Orchestra of Castilla y León. Past residencies include the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Clyne’s music is represented on several labels and her works Prince of Clouds and Night Ferry were nominated for 2015 GRAMMY Awards. Her cello concerto DANCE, recorded by soloist Inbal Segev, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Marin Alsop, has garnered 10 million plays on Spotify.
Clyne is deeply committed to music education and to supporting and mentoring the next generation of composers. She has taught master classes and workshops throughout the US and internationally and was the founding mentor for the Orchestra of St Luke’s Degaetano Composition Institute, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s New Stories program and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra's Emerging Composers Program.
Clyne’s music is published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes. www.boosey.com/clyne
This biography can be reproduced free of charge in concert programs with the following credit:
Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes.
Long Biography (990 Words):
Described as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” in a New York Times profile and as “fearless” by NPR, GRAMMY-nominated Anna Clyne is one of the most in-demand composers today, working with orchestras, choreographers, filmmakers, and visual artists around the world. Clyne was named by Bachtrack as one of the top ten most performed contemporary composers in the world and the most performed living female British composer in both 2022 and 2023.
Clyne has been commissioned and presented by the world’s most dynamic and revered arts institutions, including the Barbican, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Philharmonic, MoMA, Philharmonie de Paris, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, San Francisco Ballet, and the Sydney Opera House; and her music has opened such events as the Edinburgh International Festival, The Last Night of the Proms, and the New York Philharmonic’s season.
Clyne often collaborates on creative projects across the music industry, including Between the Rooms, a film with choreographer Kim Brandstrup and LA Opera, as well as the Nico Project at the Manchester International Festival, a stage work about pop icon Nico’s life that featured Clyne’s reimagining of The Marble Index for orchestra and voices. Clyne has also reimagined tracks from Thievery Corporation’s The Cosmic Game for the electronica duo with orchestra, and her music has been programmed by such artists as Björk.
Several projects have explored Clyne’s fascination with visual arts, including Color Field, inspired by the artwork of Mark Rothko and Abstractions, inspired by five contemporary artworks; and Woman Holding a Balance, a film collaboration with artist Jyll Bradley. In January 2023 Clyne presented a three-part series for BBC Radio 3 called ‘The Art of Music with Anna Clyne’.
Recent projects in collaboration with the dance world have included the world premiere of choreographer Pam Tanowitz’s Secret Things set to Breathing Statues for the Royal Ballet in London and performances of DANCE by the San Francisco Ballet with choreography by Nicolas Blanc.
Clyne has composed for some of the world’s greatest artists, with recent collaborations including In the Gale for cello and bird song, for Yo-Yo Ma; Weathered, a clarinet concerto for Martin Fröst; Glasslands, a saxophone concerto for Jess Gillam; and Time and Tides, a violin concerto for Pekka Kuusisto. Her new piano concerto, ATLAS, will be premiered by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Jeremy Denk in March 2024.
Further recent premieres include This Moment for full orchestra; Quarter Days for string quartet and chamber orchestra; The Years for chorus and chamber orchestra; The Heart of Night for a cappella choir; Fractured Time for sinfonietta; Strange Loops for clarinet and string quartet; A Thousand Mornings for piano trio; Red Nines for solo piano; and a trilogy of Beethoven-inspired works—Stride for string orchestra, Breathing Statues for string quartet, and Shorthand for solo cello and string orchestra.
In addition, Clyne seeks innovation through new technology, developing the Augmented Orchestra (AO) with sound designer Jody Elff; the technology expands the sound-world of the orchestra through computer-controlled processes, and was premiered in Wild Geese at the 2023 Cabrillo Festival. Upcoming implementations of AO include The Gorgeous Nothings for voices and orchestra, and a Concerto for Orchestra.
In 2023-2024, Clyne serves as Composer-in-Residence with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their Artistic Team; as Composer-in-Residence at the BBC Philharmonic, and as Artist-in-Residence with Symphony Orchestra of Castilla y León. Past residencies include the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. She is the founding mentor composer for the Orchestra of St. Luke’s DeGaetano Composition Institute and has served as the Director of the New York Youth Symphony’s young composers’ program, Making Score.
Clyne’s music is represented on AVIE Records, Cantaloupe Music, Cedille, MajorWho Media, New Amsterdam, Resound, Tzadik, and VIA labels. Prince of Clouds was nominated for a 2015 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Composition and Night Ferry was nominated the same year for Best Engineered Album (Classical). Her cello concerto DANCE, recorded by soloist Inbal Segev, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Marin Alsop, has received more than ten million listens on Spotify and topped the Amazon Classical Concertos chart. It’s opening movement was named among NPR Music’s ‘Favorite Songs of 2020’.
In 2020, AVIE Records released Mythologies, a portrait album featuring Clyne's works Masquerade, This Midnight Hour, The Seamstress, Night Ferry, and <<rewind<<, recorded live by the BBC Symphony Orchestra with soloists Jennifer Koh and Irene Buckley and conductors Marin Alsop, Sakari Oramo, Andrew Litton, and André de Ridder. Alsop, a longtime champion of Clyne’s work, praised her, stating: “Anna Clyne is someone I look to for great music. It’s always emotional and driven by her heart, but skillfully composed.”
Clyne is the recipient of the Hindemith Prize; a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; awards from Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and the Jerome Foundation; prizes from ASCAP and SEAMUS; and she was nominated for the Times Breakthrough Award. Clyne holds a Bachelor of Music degree with honours from Edinburgh University, studying with Marina Adamia, and a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Julia Wolfe.
Clyne is deeply committed to music education and to supporting and mentoring the next generation of composers. She has taught master classes and workshops throughout the US and internationally and was the founding mentor for the Orchestra of St Luke’s Degaetano Composition Institute, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s New Stories program and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra's Emerging Composers Program. Further education work has included serving as the Director of the New York Youth Symphony’s award-winning programme for young composers, Making Score, workshops for young composers at Chicago’s Public Schools and incarcerated youth at a Juvenile Detention Center, and a collaboration with art therapist Caroline Edasis to explore music, memory, and composition through working with people with Alzheimer’s.
Clyne's music is published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes. www.boosey.com/clyne
This biography can be reproduced free of charge in concert programs with the following credit:
Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes.
