News

World Premiere May 5-8 2022 Chicago, USA Wired is a passionate and potent aerial and contemporary dance experience that tells race, gender, and disability stories of barbed wire in the United States. In this world premiere, the dancers of Kinetic Light partner, spin,...

Ailis has been commissioned by the Ireland's leading contemporary music festival New Music Dublin to compose a new orchestral work for the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.  Flower Scar Road which will be premiered at The National Concert Hall of Ireland 1st May 2022....

Ireland's leading string quartet RTÉ ConTempo will give the premiere of Ailís Ní Ríain's first string quartet 'Wait' on 10th April 2022 as part of Cúirt Festival, Galway, West of Ireland. the work is funded by the Irish Arts Council, Galway Music Residency, Cúirt...

Ailís has been commissioned to compose a new work for British percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and the New London Chamber Ensemble wind quintet.  Gratefully supported by the PRS Foundation for Music. The work is due to be premiered in 2022.

New York based Exponential Ensemble give the New York premiere of Ailís Ní Ríain's trio Soundless inspired by the vispo art of the same title by Andrew Topel [USA] at Marc A. Scorca Hall, National Opera Center, New York on 18th March followed by a repeat of the...

An interview for RTE Culture File in March 2022 with composer Ailís Ní Ríain & poet Jessica Brown where they discuss their 2020/2021 collaboration on 'Watershed' - a song-cycle for vocalist Julie Comparini and pianist Yonit Kosovske. Funded by the Arts Council of...

"Watershed is a new song cycle for voice and piano inspired by the natural bodies of water and land in Ireland’s mid-west region and along the Atlantic coast. With music by renowned Irish composer Ailís Ní Ríain and text by Killaloe resident and poet Jessica Brown, it...

The Belfast based Hard Rain Ensemble will give the Irish Premiere of Ailís Ní Ríain's duo for bass flute and bass clarinet Consent #7 - on 11th February in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as part of a Xenakis at 100 concert.   Fri 11th February 2022 @ 7.30pm Harty...

The Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland and the Irish Cultural Centre, Paris present Ulysses Journey 2022: Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulysses by James Joyce - in Dublin, Belfast, Paris & Budapest   2 February 2022 17:30 - 18 June 2022...

Ailís has been commissioned by London Sinfonietta to create a new work for instrumental solo with film.  Resident at Southbank Centre, the London Sinfonietta is one of the world’s finest contemporary music ensembles with a reputation built on cutting-edge programming...

NMC Recordings will release the first portrait album by Irish composer Ailís Ní Ríain in 2022/23. The album will comprise a rich selection of diverse works created over a period of fifteen years. "NMC Recordings is an award-winning record label with charitable status....

The Royal Academy of Music turns 200 in 2022 and, as part of its bicentenary celebrations, has launched the 200 Pieces project. As part of this Ailís Ní Ríain has been commissioned to compose a new work for solo double bass. The ‘200 Pieces’ project celebrates Royal...

In the new RTÉ lyric fm radio and podcast series How the World Begins Again, Elizabeth Hilliard meets twenty women: composers and sound artists connected to the island of Ireland. They share their stories, their inspirations, creativity and challenges as they connect...

Ailís has recently been elected to the Ivors Academy Senate The Ivors Academy is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe and exists to support, protect and campaign for the interests of songwriters, lyricists and composers. It...

Ailís' work for 'pencil' piano Hex is currently part of an exhibition at The Harley Gallery in Nottinghamshire. The show, entitled, Kindred Spirits pairs work from the Jerwood Collection with Outsider Art made by UK artists, offering a fascinating insight into the...

Soundless - New York Premiere - 21st October, 2021 New York's Exponential Ensemble  Thursday, October 21 - 7pmNational Opera Center, 330 7th Avenue (7th floor), New York City This concert explores a variety of emotions experienced when people come together, either in...

The Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland and Centre Culturel Irlandais announce Ulysses Journey 2022 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulysses by James Joyce. Ailís has been commissioned to create a music and film work as part of the celebrations....

This album, the newest release from Now and Then Media, premieres a new song cycle commissioned by Yonit Kosovske with funds from the Arts Council Music Commissions Award (2020).   Composed by Ailís Ní Ríain on poems by Jessica Brown from her book And Say (Revival...

1st September 2021: Xenia Pestova-Bennett performs Ní Ríain's Soberado for toy piano [commissioned in 2017] as part of the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland's 'Courtyard Series' alongside works by Ed Bennett, Andrew Hamilton and improvisations by both performers....

A vinyl recording of Ní Ríain's Aerial Sparks/Galway European Capital of Culture 2020 commission East:West - Where Morning is the Sea was released in July 2021. Seven artists, writers and composers from across Europe have produced a series of compelling standalone...

Music for Galway and Cúirt Literary Festival, Ireland have commissioned a string quartet from Ailís Ní Ríain to be premiered by Ireland's leading quartet RTE ConTempo Quartet in April 2022. The 25 minute work is inspired by the poem 'Wait' by the American poet Galway...

Contemporary specialist soprano Elizabeth Hilliard and leading clarinettist Paul Roe join forces to produce a concert experience that will resonate around the walls and arches of the IMMA courtyard on 8th August 2021. "Revisiting work we’ve performed before with fresh...

The Irish violinist, Darragh Morgan premieres Ní Ríain's new commission for solo violin and fixed media [altered piano] Hiding Out 'neath the Everything as part of New Music Gathering 2021 in the USA. New Music Gathering is an annual conference/festival hybrid...

  Ailís has been awarded an Arts Council England Developing your Creative Practice Award 2021 to develop new work for percussion with Dame Evelyn Glennie. DYCP supports individuals who are cultural and creative practitioners and want to take time to focus on their...

  East:West - Where Morning is the Sea is featured on RTE Lyric FM radio on 12th July 2021. Listen here. The work is a 12 minute audio-visual installation commissioned by Aerial Sparks for Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture and created after three weeks...

Theater Kapow - New Hampshire - USA I Used to Feel by Ailís Ní Ríain 30th April - 2nd May 2021 A woman has not been seen since she checked into this hotel room, alone, three days ago. This intimate music-theatre piece set in a hotel room questions the essence of...