Clare Maclean was born in Timaru, New Zealand in 1958. She studied composition at Wellington Polytechnic with Gillian Bibby, and at Sydney University with Peter Sculthorpe. While studying in Sydney, she joined the then Sydney University Chamber Choir (now the Sydney Chamber Choir) under Nicholas Routley, singing music from the Renaissance to the present, with a focus on both early and contemporary music.

The experience of singing this repertoire was important in the development of Clare’s musical language, which has been influenced by Renaissance polyphony and the use of modes; her music often combines aspects of different styles, and sometimes quotations from past music. These musical threads, which continue through changing musical conventions, have come to symbolise for her the presence of the changeless transcendent in the passing of time, which she interprets in terms of a Christian faith.

Clare has taught aural and harmony at Sydney University and at the University of Western Sydney, where she works at present. She is also enrolled in a Doctorate of Creative Arts program in composition at Western Sydney under Bruce Crossman. She lives in Penrith, Sydney, with her husband John Carroll and their four children.


Principal Works (choral unless otherwise stated)

• Songs to poems by James K. Baxter, for mezzo-soprano and piano (1982)
• Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, for string quartet (1984)
• Christ the King, words: James K. Baxter (1984)
• Et misericordia, words: the Book of Job, chapter 38 (1986)
• A West Irish Ballad, words: Anon, translated by Lady Gregory, 1988)
• Hope There Is, words: Oodgeroo Nunuccal (1990)
• Love Was His Meaning, words: 2 Samuel:18, Matthew 23:37, Julian of Norwich (1992)
• This story, for orchestra and chorus, words: Bill Neidjie (1993)
• Rain (1995)
• Leise Rieselt der Schnee (Softly Falls the Snow), words: traditional (1996)
• We Welcome Summer, words: Michael Leunig (1996)
• Aunque es de Noche (Although it is Night), words: St John of the Cross (2002)
• In the Year that King Uzziah Died, words: Isaiah 6:1-4 (2003)
• When Israel went out from Egypt, words: Psalm 114, Luke 2:29-35 (2004)
• As the Flower of the Grass, words: Sappho (2004)
• Kyrie and Gloria from a mass in progress (2006)

CDs and Radio Broadcasts
A number of Clare Maclean’s works have been broadcast on Radio New Zealand, and are regularly broadcast on ABC classic FM in Sydney, Australia.

• Clare Maclean, the Complete choral music
  The Sydney Chamber Choir, conducted by Nicholas Routley
  Tall Poppies, Sydney, Australia, TP073, 1995
• Australia Sings a New Song (Hope There is, sung by the Sydney Chamber Choir, conducted by Nicholas Routley)
  Australian National Choral Association ANCACD1001, 1996
• The Listening Land (We Welcome Summer)
  The Australian Voices, conducted by Graeme Morton
  Australian Voices, Brisbane, Australia, VOICESCD002, 1996 • www.theaustralianvoices.com.au
• Our Time and Place (Hope There Is)
  The St Peter’s Chorale, conducted by Graeme Morton
  The St Peter’s Chorale, Brisbane, Australia, 1997
• Different Angels: Contemporary Australian Choir Music (Christ the king; Et Misericordia)
  The Adelaide Chamber Singers, conducted by Carl Crossin
  The Adelaide Chamber Singers, Australia, ACSCD 002, 1998 • www.adelaidechambersingers.com/angels.html
• O Magnum Mysterium (Christ the King)
  The Adelaide Chamber Singers, conducted by Carl Crossin
  The Adelaide Chamber Singers, Australia • www.adelaidechambersingers.com/magnum.html
• One World, Many Voices (Hope There Is, sung by the Sydney Chamber Choir)
  Earthsongs, Corvallis, Oregon, CD 02, 1998
• One (Christ the King)
  Ensemble de la Rue, conducted by William Kempster
  Arktos Recordings ltd, CD 20041, 2000
• Evensong from York Minster (Christ the King)
  The Brighton School Choir
  Brighton School, Adelaide, Australia, 2000
• Rejoicing in His Birth (Leise Rieselt der Schnee)
  The St Louis Chamber Chorus, conducted by Philip Barnes
  The St Louis Chamber Chorus, SLCC 007, 2003
• The Sydney Camber Choir and Kampin Laulu Chamber Choir, Finland (We Welcome Summer)
  ABC Classic FM, Sydney, Australia, 2003
• Resonance: Contemporary Choral Music from Australia and the United States (Christ the King)
  University of New Hampshire Singers, conducted by William Kempster
  University of New Hampshire Music Department, UNHCS 0104, 2004
• Songs of the Soul (Aunque es de Noche)
  The St Louis Chamber Chorus, conducted by Philip Barnes
  Guild GmbH, Switzerland, GMCD 7272, 2005
• Jo-Wha (Oneness) (Kyrie, sung by the Sydney Chamber Choir, conducted by Paul Stanhope)
  Publications by Wirripang, Wollongong, Australia, 2006

Published music

• Hope There is, Corvallis, Oregon, Earthsongs (1997)
• We Welcome Summer, Brisbane, Australia, Morton Music (1999)

Works about Clare Mclean's Music

• Annette Eriksson, The expressive treatment of text in the music of Clare Maclean, thesis for Bmus hons, University of Sydney (1987)
• Keren Terpstra, Transcendence and Immanence in the Music of Clare Maclean, thesis for Mmus, University of Sydney (2005)
• Catherine Gordon, Doctoral thesis on sacred choral music in Australia, University of Adelaide, dealing with the music of Anne Boyd, Nigel Butterly and Clare Maclean (in progress)

Commissions (for choral works unless otherwise stated)

• John Colliss (counter tenor), for a song cycle for voice and piano (1982)
• The University of Sydney Senate, for an organ processional (1983)
• The Sydney Chamber Choir (1984, 1986, 1988)
• The Maquarie Singers, Sydney (1989)
• The Tasmanian Consort (1990)
• The Sydney Children’s choir (1992)
• The Sydney University Musical Society (1992)
• The Australian National Choral Association (1993)
• The NSW department of Education, for a work for choir and orchestra (1994)
• The Australian Voices (1995)
• The Sydney Philharmonia Choir (2002)
• Syntony (Adelaide) (2003)
• The St Louis Chamber Chorus (2004, 2007)