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Ann Cleare (born 1983 in
County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...
) is an Irish
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
. She is Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin. In 2019 she won the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Composers' Prize, sharing it with
Annesley Black Annesley Black (born 8 September 1979 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian composer. Career After studying jazz and electronic music at Concordia University in Montreal Annesley Black received her bachelor's degree in musical composition in 2004 f ...
and Mithatcan Öcal.


Education

Cleare studied with John Godfrey and Jesse Ronneau at University College Cork, where she was awarded an MPhil. She later studied at IRCAM in Paris and went on to complete her PhD in composition with
Chaya Czernowin Chaya Czernowin (Hebrew: חיה צ'רנובין, ; born December 7, 1957) is an Israeli American composer, and Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music at Harvard University. She is the lead composer at the Schloß Solitude Sommerakademie, a biannu ...
and
Hans Tutschku Hans Tutschku (born 1966) is a German composer. Born in Weimar, Tutschku has been a member of the Ensemble for Intuitive Music Weimar since 1982. He studied composition of electronic music at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber, Dresde ...
at Harvard University.


''On magnetic fields''

Her 2011–2012 work, ''on magnetic fields'', was commissioned by the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik and premiered by the Collegium Novum Zürich. This work, which separates the performers into three chamber ensembles, uses two violin soloists as a kind of sculpted "electric current" to propel the interaction between the musicians. She later created a version of the piece for two violins and loudspeaker which was premiered by the Riot Ensemble in London on 14 May 2018. In an interview with Tim Rutherford-Johnson, Cleare described the work:
At the centre of two of the spatially divided chamber groups lies a solo violin. I think of both solo violins as "electric currents", wiry voices that magnetically charge the electricity of the ensemble that surrounds them, wrapping layers of various sonic materials around the violins, providing what I think of as an electric cloud for the evolving violin electricities to speak from.


''Eöl''

In 2015, MATA Festival commissioned Cleare to write a piece for the Talea Ensemble, and she wrote ''Eöl'' for a collection of small percussion instruments surrounded by a small ensemble. The percussion instruments are all made with different metals in order to make use of their varied timbral characteristics. In an interview, Cleare said,
In a geological sense, the word "eolian" signifies something borne, deposited, produced or eroded by the wind. This particularly connects to the porous role that the accordion plays in the piece. It is like a medium that the other instruments of the ensemble transform and interact through. And in a mythical sense, the title alludes to Eöl, an elf from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth writings, who skillfully wove metals into various magical armors. The ensemble enacts a similar type of sonic weaving, leading to the formation of the percussionist's metallic hands.


Portrait concert

On 1 March 2018, the International Contemporary Ensemble presented a portrait concert of Cleare's work at Miller Theater, including her works ''teeth of light, tongue of waves'' (a world premiere and a co-commission by the ensemble and the theatre), ''to another of that other'', ''the square of yellow light that is your window'' and ''Dorchadas.''


Awards

* 2006: College Scholar from University College Cork for achievement and excellence in academic studies * 2010: Shortlisted for the
Gaudeamus Prize The Gaudeamus International Composers Award is made by the Gaudeamus Foundation. The prize is awarded yearly, to a young composer at Dutch music concert, ''Gaudeamus Muziekweek''. The Gaudeamus Foundation had held an annual music week of Dutch co ...
, Holland * 2012: Derek C. Bok Excellence in Teaching Award, Harvard University * 2012: Named one of NPR's top composers under 40, WQXR, New York * June 2013: Staubach Honorarium recipient from IMD (Darmstadt Music Courses), Germany * February 2019: Ernst von Siemens Composers' Prize * October 2019: Honorary Doctorate from the
National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...


Solo portrait concerts

* March 2018: Miller Theatre, Columbia University, with The International Contemporary Ensemble * October 2019: Musikfabrik, Cologne * November 2019: Riot Ensemble, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, UK; broadcast on BBC Radio 3


Outstanding commissions and performances

* April 2015: Recipient of MATA Commission for 2015 Festival, one of three composers chosen from over 950 applications * April 2020: International Society for Contemporary Music – work selected from International Call for New Zealand Festival 2020


Selected works


Orchestra

* ''eyam v (woven)'' for contrabass flute, contrabass clarinet, and orchestra (2015–17) * ''phôsphors (...of ether)'' for orchestra (2012/13) * ''to another of that other'' for trumpet, trombone, clarinet and orchestra (2009/13) * ''Claustrophobia'' – Four Movements for String Orchestra (2005–2006)


Opera

* ''One Here Now: A Sonic Theatre'' for voices, percussion, and electronics (2017/18) * ''rinn'', a chamber opera for two actors, three singers, large ensemble, and electronic sculpture/staging (2014–16)


Chamber music

* ''teeth of light, tongue of waves'' for soprano and bassoon with bowed guitar, viola, cello, and double bass (2017/18) * ''fiáin'' for violin, viola, cello, electric guitar, and electric bass guitar (2017) * ''93 million miles away'' for violin, cello, and piano (2016) * ''eyam ii (taking apart your universe)'' for contrabass clarinet solo and ensemble (2009–2016) * ''ore'' for one high reed wind instrument (clarinet/oboe/saxophone) and string trio (2016) * ''eöl'' for percussion solo with clarinet, saxophone, accordion, cello and double bass (2014/15) * ''luna, lithe, lair'' for bfl, bcl, ca, asax, pno, perc, vln, vla, vc (2013/14) * ''I should live in wires for leaving you behind'' for 2 pianists (1 piano) and 2 percussionists (2014) * ''anchor me to the land'' for small ensemble (2014) * ''the square of yellow light that is your window'' for a.sax (solo), perc, pf, e.gt (2013/14) * ''eyam iii (if it’s living somewhere outside of you)'' for solo bass flute shadowed by one low wind instrument and one string instrument (2013/15) * ''mire, …, veins'' for brass quintet (2013) * ''to another of that other'' for trumpet, trombone, clarinet (2009–13) * ''on magnetic fields'' for two violins and one loudspeaker (2011–2012) * ''on magnetic fields'' for ensemble (2011–2012) * ''of violet ether'' for ensemble (2011) * ''moil'' for string quartet (2010) * ''unable to create an offscreen world'' (c) for picc, perc, bcl, vln, vc (2010) * ''unable to create an offscreen world (b)'' for piccolo and percussion (2010) * ''Inner'' for cello/viola/violin and piano (2009) * ''To Exist, Press the Green Button'' for picc/afl, cl, bcl, b.tbn, cymbal, vc, db (2009) * ''Dysmorphia'' for viola and cello (2008) * ''The Apophenia Transmissions'' for wind quintet (2008) * ''Dorchadas'' for bfl, bcl, bsn, tbn, perc, pf, vla, vc, db (2007) * ''Aspira'' for large wind and brass ensemble (2007) * ''Day Two'' for violin, cello, piano (2006)


Solo instrumental

* ''where cobalt waves live'' for solo piano (2017) * ''luna'' ''(the eye that opens the other eye)'' for alto saxophone solo (2013/14) * ''eyam iii (if it’s living somewhere outside of you)'' for solo bass flute (2013) * ''eyam i (it takes an ocean not to)'' for B clarinet solo (2009–13) * ''IRK'' for viola/violin with optional electronics (2006)


References


External links


Official websiteArticles in Irish TimesBBC listingsListing in the New Yorker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleare, Ann 1983 births 21st-century classical composers 21st-century women composers Academics of the University of York Academics of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of University College Cork Ernst von Siemens Composers' Prize winners Harvard University alumni Irish classical composers Irish women classical composers Living people Musicians from County Offaly