Ailis Ni Riain's debut play Beaten (published by Nick Hern as TILT) will receive its Swedish premiere at the Göteborgs Stadsteater in Gothenburg running from 6th November to 23rd January 2010.

Ailis has been commissioned by Irish bass-clarinettist Deirdre O'Leary, with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland to write a new work for bass-clarinet and pre-recorded sound to be premiered in 2010.

Sawn-off Opera will present three new mini-operas by Ailis Ni Riain, supported by Arts Council England at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester on 16th October 2009.

Ailis has been commissioned by the Danish Trio TTAATTOO with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland to write a new work for piano, clarinet and viola to be premiered in Denmark in Summer 2010.

The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester will present Sawn-off Opera performing three new mini-operas by Ailis Ni Riain with libretto by David Gaffney from 24-26th November. See performances page for details.

Ailis has been commissioned by the Liverpool Philharmonic's 10:10 Ensemble -- recent winners of the PRS Ensemble of the Year -- to write a new work for singer Lore Lixenberg and the ensemble to be premiered on 10th Feb 2010, at The Cornerstone, Liverpool.

Tom Latter will direct the London premiere of Ailis Ni Riain's second play TILT at the Cockpit Theatre, London on 13th and 14th August.

"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." - Review of TILT, The Glasgow Herald.

CELL, Ailis Ni Riain's third play received its premiere as part of the 24:7 Theatre Festival in Manchester from 20th-26th July 2009 (see links to reviews below). Directed by Paula Simms, CELL tells the story of Hickey, an Irish acute social withdrawal who hasn't left his bedroom for two years. Mickey, his ebullient alter ego challenges his decision every day.  This is a lyrical and percussive piece of new writing.

Reviews: What's on Stage | British Theatre Guide | Manchester Evening News

Lighthouse Lullaby, Ailis Ni Riain's electroacoustic composition commissioned by FOLD with PRS Foundation funds has been nominated by the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland for the Sonic Arts strand of the British Composer Awards. The awards will be held in December 2009.

A sound installation by Ailís Ni Ríain

Maryport, Cumbria - 29th-31st January 2009

The lighthouse at Maryport Harbour has stood silent for over 200 years. For three days in January she sang. Composer Ailís Ní Ríain was commissioned by Fold to write and record an electro-acoustic piece of music inspired by the sounds and rhythms of the lighthouse’s lonely position at the harbour entrance. The piece interacted with the natural sounds and acoustics of this cast iron building with room for the creaks and groans of the lighthouse to play their part in an ever-changing improvised performance.

More at the Fold website »

Listen to BBC Today Programme report »

See video The Singing Lighthouse on Channel 4 's Big Art website »

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.

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. 

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!

StreetSong was presented as part of Hebden Bridge Arts Festival. 27 June - 23 July 2008.

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.

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. 

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

brief-blue-electric-bloom, a performance installation in collaboration with HooH HaH Productions , a Greenroom Ready? commission supported by Arts Council England was premiered at Manchester's Greenroom on 30th November for two sold-out performances. See here for more about the work.

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.

But Will You? from The Falling (tape, 2005) has been selected as part of NewMediaFest2007, SoundLAB Edition V under the theme of "soundSTORY - sound as a tool for storytelling" online presentation.

A new commission from SPNM /Serious for the London Jazz Festival UPTHEWALLS was premiered on 25th November at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London by the arthurs.høiby.ritchie trio and was recorded by BBC Radio 3 for future broadcast. 

Another new work, Beautiful Cracked Eyes which was commissioned by Adam Swayne with funds from Arts Council England for piano solo was premiered by Adam Swayne as part of the Park Lane Group concert series on 8th January 2008 at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London.

Wounds, Scars, Screams from The Falling has been released by CD-R, a label for sonic art showcasing 'Unsafe' new electroacoustic and experimental music. UNSAFE: sound works that take risks - artistically, aesthetically, philosophically, sonically, even physically. Works that should carry a health warning, that ignore safety margins, that lie outside the comfort zone.

The excellent American pianist Matthew McCright played Into the Sea of Waking Dreams... a piano suite at York Late Music Festival at York's Centre for Early Music on 2nd June 2007. "Ailís Ní Ríain contributed Into The Sea Of Waking Dreams - five thoughtful miniatures with brief angry bursts." - Martin Dreyer, York Evening Press June 2007

Missing Persons (2006) for tape which was commissioned by Tilfeldig Productions in 2005 was played as part of the new Soundwaves Festival from 7–24 June at The Old Market, Hove.

An interview with Ailis Ni Riain on RTE Lyric FM was broadcast in June 2007 featuring her compositions StreetSong, Dogs in Waiting, DON'T!, Wounds, Scars and Screams and The Man Made of Rain. You can listen to the interview on the audio samples page (circa 40 mins).