Dr Seán Clancy appointed as Assistant Professor and Ad Astra Fellow
16 October 2023
The UCD School of Music is delighted to announce the appointment of (opens in a new window)Dr Seán Clancy as Assistant Professor and Ad Astra Fellow, starting 1 December 2023. Dr Clancy will join us from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where he is currently Senior Lecturer and BMus Composition co-ordinator. As an Ad Astra Fellow, his work in the School will initially be primarily research-focused; he will then teach on our MMus Music & Culture programme from 2024-25; and will undertake more extensive undergraduate teaching from 2025-26. As part of the Ad Astra Fellowship scheme, a fully-funded PhD studentship, to be supervised by Dr Clancy, will be advertised early in the new year.
Dr Clancy said, “I’m delighted to be joining the UCD School of Music and the wider UCD community as an Ad Astra Fellow. I’m excited to be working alongside UCD’s world leading researchers and institutions by developing nationally and internationally facing research projects that look to transform through digital technology and empower humanity. I’m thrilled to be joining an environment that foregrounds thinking about music, its importance to us as people, and its role in society; and I’m eager to develop my own practice as a composer and a teacher in this new terrain. Having worked at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for thirteen years, and as a UCD alumnus, I’m overjoyed by the prospect of returning home to the community where my academic journey began, and I look forward to hitting the ground running.”
Head of School, Dr Tomás McAuley, said, “Dr Clancy is one of the foremost Irish composers of his generation. We are thrilled that he will be joining the School of Music at UCD. Building on his phenomenal track record, Dr Clancy’s practice-based research will engage not only a wide range of academics and music professionals but also a broader public. Our MMus Music & Culture is already a leading Masters course in Musicology and Ethnomusicology; the new options that Dr Clancy will offer on this course will now make it an outstanding choice also for students who wish to study composition as part of a rounded and academically rigorous postgraduate programme. We are equally excited, building on the success of the UCD Composition Ensemble and other recent teaching initiatives in composition, by the innovative contributions that Dr Clancy will make to our undergraduate programmes. Dr Clancy’s expertise also in music performance will allow rich opportunities for collaboration with our leading range of professionally-led performing groups.”
Professor Regina Uí Chollatáin, Principal and Dean of the UCD College of Arts and Humanities, said, “We are delighted to welcome Dr Seán Clancy as an Ad Astra fellow in the College of Arts and Humanities. The high calibre of his scholarship and experience will add significantly to the research and teaching possibilities in Music. Dr Clancy's practice-based research and his work as a composer present wonderful opportunities for our students in the area of composition in particular. Guímid gach uile rath ar an Dr Clancy leis na forbairtí seo agus tá muid ag súil go mór le bheith ag obair leis sa ról seo sna blianta amach romhainn.”