Ailis Ni Riain, composer and writer

"Listening to it stops me in my tracks.
This is a composer who can get right under the skin."
Bob Gilmore, The Journal of Music in Ireland

ailís ní ríain
Composer and Writer

About Ailis Ni Riain

The International Prize-winning (ISCM) Irish composer and published playwright (Tilt, Nick Hern Books) Ailis Ni Riain combines her interests in composing and writing to produce works which explore her myriad artistic interests. She is particularly interested in sound installation, voice theatre, public art, music-theatre & presenting contemporary music in diverse spaces. She has been represented by the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland since 1999 and lives in Lancashire in the North of England.
Granary & Meridian Theatre Company presents BEATEN by Ailis Ni Riain

Granary Theatre, Cork City | 8 – 20 September 2008

Ailis Ni Riain’s new post postmodern play pushes the boundaries of what is possible in live theatre.  Think Sarah Kane, early Edward Bond, with Pat McCabe thrown in, and you’re close to defining the imaginative punch of this inventive play.  Sarcastic humour, searing performances, a sound score by Cormac O’Connor and lighting and direction by Tony McCleane-Fay, makes this an insistent coup de theatre.Three siblings re-visit and re-enact their scarred childhood with devastating consequences.  “Ni Riain has constructed a thing of sad, haunted beauty and inherent musicality. Each rapid-fire phrase pummels the air in a series of blistering crescendos, passed around the family like a choral litany. In truth it's an elegy to their own lost lives, building to a symphony fuelled by love and anger.”  Glasgow Herald. 

 
 
DON'T! at Carnegie Hall

Ailis Ni Riain's DON'T! will be performed at Carnegie Hall, New York on 17th October 2008 as part of the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland and Culture Ireland's Irish Composers Showcase.
 
But Will You? at File 2008, Brazil

 

But Will You? (2005, from The Falling) will be presented as part of FILE 2008 - Electronic Language International Festival in Sao Paulo. It will be held from August 4th to 31st, 2008.
 
Valley of Stone

Ailis has been commissioned by Horse & Bamboo visual theatre Company, Pennine Groundwork and English Heritage to make a new work which celebrates the quarrying heritage of the Valley throughout Rossendale, Lancashire near where she lives.  She is composing a new piece for Rossendale Male Voice Choir - an exciting and interesting departure for all involved!

 
TranSextreme performed in Canada

 

 

TranSextreme was presented as part of a 'mash-up' at the Deep Wireless Festival in Toronto, Canada on May 8th 2008 following its release by Deep Wireless in 2007.

 
BBC Radio 3 Premiere for We Know We Got Soul

 

We Know We Got Soul (from Sawn-off Opera 2007), was premiered on 18th April on BBC Radio 3 'The Verb' with Ian MacMillan.

 
Stewart Parker Trust Residency

Ailis was selected to attend the Stewart Parker Residency with Director Philip Howard (ex-Traverse) at Annamakerrig in Co. Monaghan, Ireland in June 2008. Many thanks to the Stewart Parker Trust for generously offering this important opportunity for emerging Irish playwrights. 

 

Copyright © 2007 ailís ní ríain
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