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Judith Clingan A.M. is a multi-faceted artist equally intrigued by sounds, words, movement and things visual. Born in Sydney in 1945, she was not taught music, but spent her childhood singing, playing recorder, drawing, painting, and writing stories and songs. On leaving school, she studied languages at ANU while continuing to indulge her passion for all things creative. In 1967 she founded the Canberra Children's Choir (now Canberra Youth Choir), and, discovering an alarming lack of interesting music for SSA voices, began composing for them. Along the way she studied music part-time, mostly at the Canberra School of Music: voice, bassoon and composition. In 1970 she founded what is now the Young Music Society: for 10 years she directed holiday music schools for hundreds of children. From 1972 – 1974 she lived in Hobart, studying art, painting, teaching and conducting.

Her daughter Jessica was born in 1974. Being the mother of a young child focussed Judith's attention on the musical education of young children – she studied at the Kodaly Institute in Hungary from 1981 – 82. On her return to Canberra in 1983, she founded the community performance and tuition group Gaudeamus (now Music for Everyone), for whom she composed, and commissioned from other Australian composers, many choral and music theatre works. In 1989 Judith was the Creative Arts Fellow at the ANU; in 1991 she was an Australia Council Composition Fellow. Gaudeamus performers toured her music theatre work Kakadu (1990) to Finland and the work won a Sounds Australian award in 1991. In 1991 Judith became involved with Steiner education, and since then has written many short choral and music theatre pieces for use in Steiner schools.

From 1994 – 1996 Judith worked in South Australia, founding Voicebox Youth Opera, for whom she wrote many music theatre pieces. She returned to Canberra in 1997, and founded the choir Wayfarers Australia, and the vocal octet Variables. In 1999 she travelled to Europe on a Churchill Fellowship to investigate music theatre; in 2001 she was awarded an artsACT Creative Artists Fellowship. Some of her choral pieces have been released in the CD Choralations; her pieces for use in schools and community groups can be found in the Songs of the Tree of Life books and CD's. Judith is currently based in Canberra, composing, conducting, teaching and performing, as well as organising and directing choral and music theatre holiday schools, music education courses, and choral, recorder and music theatre performances. She also makes frequent forays to other parts of Australia and to Europe to teach and perform both old and new music.

Biography provided by the composer — current to July 2006