Anna Clyne

Anna Clyne (b.1980) is a composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music, combining resonant soundscapes with propelling textures that weave, morph and collide in dramatic explosions. Her work, which includes collaborative projects with cutting-edge choreographers, film-makers, visual artists and musicians, has been commissioned and performed worldwide. Her music has been composed for and programmed by such artists as Björk, Martin Scorsese, Alex Ross, Esa-Pekka Salonen, ETHEL and BalletX. She is based in Brookyln, New York and her music is published by Boosey & Hawkes.

Born in London and raised in the UK, Anna Clyne’s first instrument was a piano with randomly missing keys. As she began to find her way across the keyboard, she simultaneously began to compose. At the age of eleven she wrote and performed her first fully notated piece for flute and piano. She continued to compose on and off, but it was when she moved to Edinburgh in 1998, then to Ontario in 2000 and finally to New York in 2002 that these three richly artistic environments brought her music to life though a myriad of people, coincidences, adventures, twists and turns and collaborations.

Anna Clyne is the recipient of several awards. These include five consecutive ASCAP Plus Awards which merited her recent catalogs of work for their “unique prestige value”, a Clutterbuck Award from the University of Edinburgh, awards from Meet the Composer, The American Music Center, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Jerome Foundation, International Artist Sponsorship, and a 2006 Commission Prize from ASCAP and SEAMUS “in recognition of outstanding achievement and demonstrated ability”. She was also a finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Composer Award and the UK Tovey Composition Competition.

Recent honors include participation in the American Composers Orchestra Underwood New Music Readings, Bang on a Can Marathon, Bang on a Can Summer Institute, Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, Osvaldo Golijov/Dawn Upshaw Professional Workshop at Carnegie Hall, River to River Festival, Free Advice, a composer/choreographer event at the Joyce SoHO, nomination for the New York Van Lier Roulette Fellowship, Young Concert Artists Composer Program and a master class with Pierre Boulez in New York City.

Recent commissions include American Composers Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Electric Kompany, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Opus 21, Janus Trio, Jerome Foundation, New York Voices (a collaboration between the Albany Symphony and the New York State Archives), Roulette (for ETHEL), SEAMUS/ASCAP (for Kathy Supové), Seattle Chamber Players (curated by Alex Ross), Tactus and the Los Angeles-based Hysterica Dance Company where she is resident composer.

Anna Clyne’s work has been performed by orchestras that include the American Composers Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra and Manhattan School of Music’s Composers Orchestra. Her chamber works have been performed by ETHEL, Opus 21, Seattle Chamber Players, Electric Kompany, janus trio, Tactus and members of the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Her solo works have been widely performed by such musicians as Kathy Supove (piano), Laurie DeLuca (clarinet), Patrick O’Keefe (bass clarient), Heather Conner (piano), Benjamin Elton Capps (cello), Eileen Mack (clarinet), Argeo Ascani (saxophone), Christian Rodriguez (clarinet) and Al Cerulo (percussion).

Anna Clyne’s work has been conducted by David Gilbert (Assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic 1970-1979 and principal conductor of the American Ballet Theatre 1971-1975), George Manahan (current Music Director of the New York City Opera), Jeffrey Milarsky (American Composers Orchestra), Alan Pierson (Artistic Director of Alarm Will Sound) and Osmo Vänskä (current Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra) with upcoming performances that include conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen (current Music Director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic).

Anna Clyne currently resides in New York, where her music has recently been presented at 21st Century Schizoid Music Series, Art Resources Transfer, Bang on a Can Marathon, CAMI Hall, Carnegie Hall, Columbia University, Cooper Union, d.u.m.b.o. Dance Festival, Dance Now Festival, Ear to the Earth Festival, Gallerie Icosahedron, Galapagos Art Space, Joyce SoHo, Le Poisson Rouge, Manhattan School of Music, Miller Theater, Monkeytown, MoMA, New York Musical Theatre Festival, River to River Festival, Roulette, Shark Attack¸ Symphony Space, The Flea Theater, The Stone, Three Legged Dog Arts & Technology Center, The Tank, TIXE Arts Space, Tribeca New Music Festival, World Financial Center and Zankel Hall.

Other recent performances in the US include Alex Theatre, Glendale, CA; Annenberg Center for the Arts, Philadelphia, PA; El Portal Theatre, Hollywood, CA; Ford Amphitheatre, Hollywood, CA; (f)x Music Marathon, Miami, FL; Highways Performance Space, Los Angeles, CA; Icebreaker IV Music Festival, Seattle, WA; Massachusetts MoCA, North Adams, MA; McCullum Theater for Performing Arts, Los Angeles, CA; Open Fist Theatre, Hollywood, CA; Orchestra Hall, Minnesota, MN; Palm Desert Choreography Festival, Palm Desert, CA; Poncho Hall, Seattle, WA; SEAMUS Electroacoustic Music Conference, Eugene, OR and Denver, CO; Shakespeare Festival at Los Angeles Theater, CA; Spark Electronic Music Festival, Minnesota, MN; Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival, Richmond, VI; University of Miami, Miami, FL; of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT and Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA.

Internationally, her work has been programmed at Agnes Etherington Art Center, Canada; Beijing Modern Festival, China; Edinburgh Fringe Festival, UK; Exchange Film Festival, Australia; Guadeamus Interpreter’s Competition, Holland; MOSAIC Music Series, Canada; Oxford Town Hall, UK; Reid Concert Hall, UK; Soundings Electronic Music Festival, UK; St Cecilia’s Hall, UK; The Southside, UK; University of Edinburgh, UK and Worldart.com, UK.

As a passionate collaborator, Anna Clyne has worked with many of today’s most inventive and pioneering artists that include choreographers Kitty McNamee (USA), Leda Meredith (USA), Pascal Rekoert (Holland); painter, Y.J.Cho (Taiwan); sound artists Jody Elff (USA), Jeremy Flower (USA); film-maker Michael Bates (Australia), visual artists Joshua Bryan (UK/Japan), Luke Dubois (USA), Jon Niborg Speier, (USA), Rokhshad Nourdeh (France), Joshue Ott/Superdraw (USA) and writers Tom Bolt (USA) and Rich Bloomquist, Scott Jacobson of The Daily Show (USA).

She has worked for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, USA; Ear to the Earth Festival, New York, USA; Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center, New York, USA; Hysterica Dance Company, Los Angeles, USA; Joe & Co. Music Ltd., London, UK; Kingston Whigstandard, Canada; New York Youth Symphony, New York, USA; Oaklands School for Children with Special Needs, Edinburgh, UK; Rage Music, Glasgow, UK; Sony Music, New York, USA; The Mendelssohn Project, New York, USA; Warchild, UK; Worldart.com, Edinburgh, UK; Worldwide Productions, London, UK.

Anna Clyne holds a first-class Bachelor of Music with honors degree from Edinburgh University and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where she received academic based scholarship. Her principal teachers include Julia Wolfe, Marina Adamia and Marjan Mozetich. She is a member of the American Music Center, American Composers Forum, Electronic Music Foundation and the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

From an interview with Alex Ross (New Yorker music critic) in The Guardian:
"She has a fascinating blend of instrumental sound and electronic processes with a dark, wild tinge to it which I find very appealing."