About
Described as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” by the New York Times and as “fearless” by NPR, GRAMMY-nominated and Ivor Novello Award-winning Anna Clyne is one of the most in-demand composers today, working with orchestras, choreographers, filmmakers, and visual artists around the world.
Clyne has been commissioned and presented by the world’s most dynamic and revered arts institutions, including the Barbican, Carnegie Hall, 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. The World Economic Forum commissioned Clyne’s Restless Oceans, which was premiered by an all-women orchestra, led by Marin Alsop, at the opening ceremony in Davos. The same work was performed at the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in 2025.
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 as both an observer and an artist has inspired several projects. Works by Gerhard Richter and Mark Rothko inspired ATLAS and Color Field, respectively, whilst five contemporary artworks sparked the creation of Abstractions. For her recent composition PALETTE, Clyne created seven abstract paintings herself, each correlating to a movement of the work, which were exhibited as part of the JuilliART program at The Juilliard School.
In addition, Clyne embraces 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. AO has now featured in three works, premiered in Wild Geese at the 2023 Cabrillo Festival, featured in The Gorgeous Nothings at the BBC Proms 2024 and highlighted in PALETTE, the first Concerto for Augmented Orchestra, which made its debut in February 2025 with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Clyne has worked with orchestras across the world as Composer in Residence. These have included the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, L’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Castilla y León, and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Clyne is a Cultural Fellow at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre, a new world-class centre for the Arts and Humanities at the University of Oxford for the 2025-26 season.
Clyne’s music is represented on several labels, including the 2025 album, Abstractions, on Naxos featuring the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop. Previous portrait albums include SHORTHAND (2024, Sony Classical) with performances by The Knights, Avi Avital, Pekka Kuusisto, Colin Jacobsen, and Yo-Yo Ma, in addition to Mythologies (2020, Avie) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and four internationally acclaimed conductors: Marin Alsop, Sakari Oramo, Andrew Litton, and André de Ridder. Her cello concerto, DANCE, which was recorded by soloist Inbal Segev, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Marin Alsop, has garnered over 12 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.