Composer Anna Clyne on Finding Endless Inspiration Outside of Music

<p>As busy as <a href="https://www.annaclyne.com/">composer Anna Clyne</a> is this season — fulfilling commissions for new works and serving as a resident artist with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and the Symphony Orchestra of Castilla y León — music accounts for a fraction of her artistic inspiration.</p> <p>That&#39;s because the Grammy-nominated British composer thrives on incorporating many creative disciplines outside of music into her work. Reviewing a roster of her recent engagements, you&#39;ll find critically acclaimed collaborations with visual artist <a href="https://www.nationalsawdust.org/event/ex-situ-anna-clynes-the-violin">Josh Dorman</a>, filmmaker <a href="http://jyllbradley.com/works/pardes-2020-2/">Jyll Bradley</a>, and choreographers from <a href="https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/new-pam-tanowitz-the-royal-ballet-in-rehearsal-digital">London&#39;s Royal Ballet</a> and the <a href="https://www.sfballet.org/productions/next90-curtain-call/">San Francisco Ballet</a>.</p> <p>Clyne&#39;s immersive approach to music-making offers audiences new entry points for experiencing new music and understanding classical music&#39;s relationship to other branches of the arts. &quot;Success for me is about reaching audiences,&quot; she says on the latest episode of the <em>Classical Post</em> podcast. &quot;My role as a composer is to create something as beautiful as I can and to share that. When people come back with a piece that&#39;s been very moving for them, I feel I&#39;ve been successful in sharing something with the world. That&#39;s a very humbling feeling.&quot;</p> <p>In this conversation, we discuss her ongoing partnership with the <a href="https://oslmusic.org/bach_posts/anna-clynes-favorite-bach/">Orchestra of St. Luke&#39;s</a>, how a Mark Rothko painting inspired her orchestral work <a href="https://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Anna-Clyne-Color-Field/104192"><em>Color Field</em></a>, and the ways a lifelong love of literature is helping her to write an opera on the