Anna-Karin earned her degree in composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm in 1985, after studying with Lars-Erik Rosell, Daniel Börtz, Arne Mellnäs, Bengt-Arne Wallin, and Per-Gunnar Alldahl. After she completed her studies, Anna-Karin moved to Rome, where she worked for 25 years in classical, folk, and commercial music genres. She has taught piano, organ, and cello, and has conducted choirs in both Italy and Sweden. Much of Klockar's work in Italy was in the film and television industry, where she collaborated with Luis Bacalov, Riz Ortolani, Bruno Zambrini, Pino Donaggio, and Maurizio Abeni. Recently, Anna-Karin has returned to live in Falun, in the Swedish region of Dalarna. In 2014, she won the Swedish Church's composition award with her Missa Dalecarliensis, and in 2016 her work Speeches won the Allmänna Sången & Anders Wall Composition Award. She has also won the POLYPHONOS competition in 2017.