Siobhán Cleary has been elected to Aosdána, the government-funded affiliation of creative artists in Ireland.

The Dublin-born composer was one of 10 artists from the fields of music, literature and visual arts to gain admission to the body, established by the Arts Council in 1981, whose membership is limited to 250 'living artists who have produced a distinguished body of work'.

Cleary is one of 25 composers who are currently Aosdána members. A graduate of NUI, Maynooth, Queen's University, Belfast and Trinity College, Dublin, she has also studied with Franco Donatoni, Louis Andriessen and Kevin Volans.

A past winner of the Pépinières Young European Artists Award and the Arklow Music Festival Composers' Competition, Cleary's appointment as Composer-in-Residence with Kerry County Council was recently extended for until November 2008.

Posted: 30 May 2008