Ballinasloe composer 'gobsmacked' by invitation to join Oscars' Academy

Ballinasloe native Amie Doherty said she was "gobsmacked" and "incredibly honoured" after being invited to join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is best known for its annual Academy Awards, or Oscars.

The local woman, who is a prolific composer of music for film and TV, was among a group of just under 400 "distinguished artists and executives" who were this week invited to join the organisation in 2022.

Along with the Glastonbury festival's youngest headliner Billie Eilish, Amie was one of the twelve invitees to the Academy in the music category.

Reacting to the news on social media, she said: "Wow, wow, wow! Thank you to the Academy for this incredible honour... I'm gobsmacked."

It's the latest milestone in the career of the Los Angeles-based artist, whose score for Spirit Untamed last year made her the first female composer ever to score a DreamWorks animated feature.

Amie's music across a range of genres can be heard in both film and TV, on the likes of the 2020 festive romantic comedy Happiest Season, the 2018 film Here and Now starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Renée Zellweger, and series such as Undone, Picard, Star Trek: Discovery, The Umbrella Academy and Fargo.

In an interview on RTE Radio One last year, she said her career path had been shaped by growing up in a very musical household in Ballinasloe.

"My Mam (Martina) is from a big family, she's one of ten, and they all live in and around Ballinasloe. Everyone is just really musical. All of our cousins play instruments and every party we had was centred around music," she said.

"My Mam and uncle Noel are part of running the local town band, and Mam writes musicals for the local schools. Our whole family is just very involved in music in the community, and Ballinasloe, in general, is a great place for music."

Amie played the piano from a young age, and said her teachers Nellie Hurley and Marie Power had a huge influence on her.