Clíona is a Sydney-based harp player, teacher and composer. She was classically trained in Dublin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she studied both the Irish and Concert Harp.
Hear her recent Radio National The Music Show interview with Andrew Ford.
Budawang (2022 National Folk Festival, Canberra)
Clíona and shakuhachi player Riley Lee have been performing together for over 12 years. They released their second album Golden Kelp and video in 2023. She also collaborates with handpan virtuoso Baran Yildiz
Clíona regularly performs latin-inspired music with singer Wendy Twibill and duo Strangelove.
She is indebted to Mexican harpist Victor Valdes and Venezuelan cuatro player Iván Vivas for teaching her so much about harp music from South America.
Clíona and Wendy's album Golden Apple Lullabies was recently re-released and has been helping to relax children (young and old). As a registered psychologist, Clíona is also passionate about the role of music in our wellbeing.
Clíona has been involved in projects that pay tribute to ‘voices from our unsung past’. She was interviewed by ABC Radio National’s The Music Show in 2021, to talk about the Irish Harp and the launch of the Parramatta Female Factory Song Suite which she was commissioned to write with Rosie McDonald.
Courageous Girl is a song written by Clíona to celebrate the spirit of the 4114 Irish Orphan girls who came to Australia after the Great Irish Famine.
Clíona also performed at Canberra's National Folk Festival, two years in a row with five piece traditional Irish band Folklore (now Seanchas).
Since settling here in Australia, Clíona played the harp in the Aida orchestra and performed solo in the Opera House as part of the Brendan Voyage. She also performed at the Utzon Room with fellow musician Christine Wheeler.
Clíona plays solo harp for many corporate events in some of Sydney's leading venues.
