Judith Clingan

Last updated

Judith Clingan
AM
JudithClingan.JPG
Background information
Birth nameJudith Ann Clingan
Born (1945-01-19) 19 January 1945 (age 80)
Sydney, Australia
Genres Choral
Occupation(s)Composer, singer and educator
InstrumentVocals
Years active1966–present
Website judithclingan.net

Judith Ann Clingan AM (born 19 January 1945) is an Australian composer, conductor, performer and music educator. Since 1997, she has been the Director of Wayfarers Australia (formerly Waldorf Wayfarers) Australia Wide Choir.

Contents

Early life

Clingan was born on 19 January 1945, in Sydney, New South Wales to Victor Lawrence Clingan and Marian Dorothy Tasker. She was educated at Hornsby Girls' High School, the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales and the Australian National University (ANU). [1]

Clingan moved to Canberra with her family in 1963, and graduated from the ANU in 1966. In 1967 she founded the Canberra Children's Choir and began composing music for SSA voices. She studied voice, bassoon and composition at the Canberra School of Music (now ANU School of Music) She studied music education at the Zoltan Kodaly Pedagogical Institute of Music in Kecskemet (Hungary) from 1981–1982. [2]

Career

In 1969 she founded the Summer Music Schools for Children, known as the Young Music Society from 1975. [3] In 1983 she founded Gaudeamus Music and Performing Arts (now Music For Canberra). She was the director of Gaudeamus for eleven years and during this time she remained a composer, writing choral and music theatre works for the group to perform. In 1990 members of Gaudeamus performed her music theatre work Kakadu at the International Society of Music Educators conference in Finland.

In 1991 she began her involvement in Steiner education and since then has written many short choral and music theatre pieces for Steiner students.

Clingan founded Voicebox Youth Opera when working in South Australia from 1994–1996, and directed the Canberra branch of Voicebox from 1997 - 2002. [4] She composed many music theatre pieces during this time. In 1994 she founded Imagine Music Theatre. [5]

In 1997 she founded the choir Wayfarers Australia [6] and the Canberra vocal group The Variables.

She has been the recipient of many awards, [7] [8] fellowships and grants, including in 1986 a Membership of the Order of Australia for services to music, [9] Churchill Fellowship, Australia Council Composer Fellowship, ANU Creative Arts Fellowship, [10] artsACT Creative Artists Fellowship, [11] Canberra Times Artist of the Year, Sounds Australian award for her composition Kakadu, funding from the Australia Council, Arts ACT and Arts SA, commissions for original compositions and numerous residencies in Australia.

Clingan is the director of Wayfarers Australia and the former director of Imagine Music Theatre.

Selected works

Source: [12]

Books

References

  1. Suzannah Pearce, ed. (17 November 2006). "Clingan (Judy) Judith Ann". Who's Who in Australia Live!. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd.
  2. Australian Kodaly Journal 2010
  3. Accessed 11 July 2010
  4. Voicebox Youth Opera
  5. Musa, Helen (10 July 2015). "Judith Clingan's last musical Hurrah – or is it?". Canberra CityNews. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  6. Australian National Choral Association: Wayfarers Australia
  7. Australian Music Centre: Judith Clingan
  8. Australian Music Educators National Conference 2005
  9. Australian Honours Search Facility
  10. H.C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship
  11. ACT Heritage Library
  12. Australian Music Centre Catalogue
  13. Review:Nganbra : A Canberra Canticle, The Age, 1 Dec 1988
  14. International Bibliography of Carillon Music by Women, Transgender, and Nonbinary Composers
  15. Review: City News Thoughtful look at women’s ageing and end of life