Clíona is an Irish cellist based in London. She began playing the cello at the age of four and moved to the UK to study at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music with Emma Ferrand and Felix Schmidt respectively. Clíona has performed in venues across the UK and Ireland such as Wigmore Hall, St. Martin-In-The-Fields, St. John's Smith Square, the National Concert Hall and Áras an Uachtaráin.
Chamber music has been a passion of Clíona’s from a young age. As a chamber musician she has performed at Verão Clássico in Lisbon, West Cork Chamber Music Festival and has been a finalist at the St Martin’s Chamber Music Competition. Clíona enjoys performing all genres of music and works regularly as a recording artist. Notable collaborations include producer Wilma Archer’s album ‘A Western Circular’ where her contributions were said to “define the sound of the album” by the producer. She also collaborates with singer/songwriter Georgia Duncan and recorded on her debut EP ‘The Light’.
Clíona loves working within community and education settings. After completing her studies at the Royal Academy of Music she was offered a position as an Open Academy Fellow in 2017/18, supporting and delivering workshops in schools and other settings. With her fellow Open Academy Fellows Clíona founded ‘Hold the Drama’, an ensemble delivering non-verbal plays based on classical music for all ages aimed at helping conversations about mental health. Hold the Drama has toured throughout the UK and visited over four thousand school children to date.
