News

Dame Evelyn Glennie and The New London Chamber Ensemble will give the world premiere of Ailís Ní Ríain's Revelling/Reckoning at the opening event of the 2023 Lake District Summer Music Festival at Coro Hall, Ulverston on 28th July 2023. Revelling/Reckoning – “music...

RTÉ Culture has published an article about Ailís Ní Ríain's new album release The Last Time I Died  

BBC Radio 3's New Music Show broadcast several tracks from Ailís Ní Ríain's Debut Disc Album The Last Time I Died on 15th July 2023. Leading presenter Tom Service to observe: Revelling/Reckoning – “music that dances and delights, even in the face of its consequences....

The Morning Star recently reviewed Ní Ríain's debut album The Last Time I Died recently released on NMC Recordings giving it 4 stars. IN HER debut album, Ailis Ni Riain’s The Last Time I Died is a broad demonstration of her curious and unique creative mind. The works...

The BBC Philharmonic will give the premiere of Ailís Ní Ríain's new work for symphony orchestra The Land Grows Weary of its Own at Manchester International Festival 2023.   New music inspired by the climate crisis. ‘The deepest past and the distant future are...

Sound Scotland features the work of Ailís Ní Ríain in its new music listening club event on 9th June 2023.   

  The German premiere of Ní Ríain's song-cycle Watershed takes place on Thursday 22nd June 2023 at Kulturkirche St. Stephani in Bremen, Germany. Yonit Kosovske, Julie Camparini & Jessica Brown present the song cycle as part of a live literature installation...

BBC Classical Music 4* Review for Ailís Ní Ríain's The Last Time I Died. Review the review here More information about the release The Last Time I Died is the first full-length album from the Irish composer Ailís Ní Ríain. The latest in NMC's Debut Disc series...

  London Sinfonietta will give the premiere of Ailís Ní Ríain's new work for cello and electronics Doomed. Done for. Damned. But still. at Kings Place, London on 24th June 2023 as part an evening programme of electro-acoustic music and manipulated sound.    Full...

Coming 26th May 2023 Click to pre-order  The Last Time I Died is the first full-length album from the Irish composer Ailís Ní Ríain. The latest in NMC's Debut Disc series features a group of musically diverse artists performing a rich selection of Ní Ríain's chamber...

  The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's Ensemble 10:10 will give the premiere of Ailís Ní Ríain's new work for chamber orchestra 'Calling Mutely Through Lipless Mouth' [2023] on 19th April 2023 at the Tung Auditorium in Liverpool. This work is a co-commission with...

Irish soprano Elizabeth Hilliard will give the work premiere of Refuse to be Wrecked for voice and fixed audio media by Ailís Ní Ríain at New Music Dublin Festival 2023. Great Women at Richmond Barracks Date: Thursday 20th April Time: 4.30pm Venue: Richmond Barracks,...

Kate Halsall - adventurous piano and keyboards player gives a performance of Ní Ríain's 2 Steep 4 Sheep [some hills are] in Glasgow on 28th April 2023. New music and improv with pianist Kate Halsall, from her 2021 album release, Breathe in Me. Music for piano and...

  Xenia Pestova Bennett will perform a selection of Ailís Ní Ríain's works for toy piano in Autumn 2022 including Soberado and Anomaly.  Soberado will also feature on Ailís NMC Recordings Debut Disc Series due for release in Spring 2023.    

Saturday 19 November – Sunday 27 November: 11am – 4pm Information Produced and presented by the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland and Centre Culturel Irlandais Six newly-commissioned music and film works, screening throughout hcmf// 2022 As part of Ulysses Journey...

Reflections on Loss: Poetry, Music and Performance Monday, 21 November 2022, 1.00pm O'DONOGHUE CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY Sometimes art can express things in ways we as individuals cannot. Join us for a unique combination of poetry, music and devised performance...

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...

A new commission for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's Ensemble 10/10 by Ailís Ní Ríain will be premiered on 19th April 2023 at the Tung Auditorium, Liverpool conducted by Catherine Larsen-Maguire. More details/tickets.

NMC Recordings will release the first portrait album by Irish composer Ailís Ní Ríain in 2023. 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. We...

  Paul Roe and Laoise O' Brien as Temenos gave the Polish premiere of Parambassis, a duo for bass-clarinet and recorders on 8th September 2022 at Concert Hall, Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music, Kraków, Poland as part of the 11th Annual European Clarinet...

  Wired - a dance-theatre production by Kinetic Light [New York] with music by Ailís Ní Ríain opens at The Shed in New York 25-27 August 2022. Immense and intimate, Wired meditates in sound, light, and movement as it questions and ruminates on power, belonging,...

  An interview published by Disability Arts Online September 2022 between Alice Sheppard of Kinetic Light and composer Ailís Ní Ríain. Kinetic Light Dance Company is an internationally-recognized disability arts ensemble whose production Wired played in New York...

Ulysses Journey 2022 Film Screening and Discussion on Joyce and Music at FUGA :: Budapest Center of Architecture 17 June 2022 19:00   The following events include Ailís Ní Ríain's 'I will see if I can see'  for accordion & prepared piano with film and archival...

Double-bass player and singer Eleanor Grant will give the world premiere of Ailís Ní Ríain's Mascaron for double-bass and recorded prepared piano on 1st July 2022 at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Mascaron has been commissioned by the Royal Academy as part of...

A feature about Ailís was published in The Irish Times in April 2022 in advance of the premiere of her orchestral work Flower Scar Road for the RTÉ Concert Orchestra as part of New Music Dublin Festival in the National Concert Hall, Ireland. The piece is written by...

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....

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...

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...

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...

  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...

Ailís has been awarded funding by the PRS Foundation for Music Open Fund to support 'Ailís Ní Ríain Debut Discs NMC Recordings' – the first portrait album of compositions by the Irish classical composer Ailís Ní Ríain.  The album will be produced and released by NMC...

  Performing with Toy Pianos | Gresham College Lecture-Recital | Xenia Pestova Toy pianos were first made in the 19th century. This lecture/recital by Xenia Pestova tells the story of an instrument originally marketed at children, that subsequently made a...

Ailís is delighted to have been invited to join the board of Disability Arts Online. Ailís is deaf/hearing-impaired and has been making work which references sensory disability since 2006. More detail here Established in 2004 with support from Arts Council England,...

The Irish violinist Darragh Morgan has commissioned Ailís to write a new work for solo violin and altered piano. Hiding Out 'Neath the Everything will be premiered in the USA at New Music Gathering 2021. Darragh Morgan leads a successful career in classical music and...

IMMA OUTDOORS CONCERTS IN THE COURTYARD The Irish Museum of Modern Arts presents Within – Without 17 June, 6.30pm Contemporary specialist soprano Elizabeth Hilliard and leading clarinettist Paul Roe join forces to produce a concert experience that will resonate around...

Ailís continues her ongoing collaboration with the USA dance company Kinetic Light while the company work in a Covid secure bubble in San Francisco continuing to develop and refine our work on Wired. The collaboration originally start in early 2019 with Ailís joining...

The New York based Exponential Ensemble have given a digital E-portrait performance of Don't! [2001] for bass-clarinet and cello. The Exponential Ensemble is a chamber music ensemble made of top-notch performers and experienced teaching artists. Throughout each...

Ailís is working with the Northern Irish writer Maria Fusco and the Royal Opera House Engender Programme to develop a new opera. The duo have been awarded time and space by the Royal Opera House, London, as part of their Engender Open Studio, to write a new opera...

Ailís was invited by The Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland to write an audio essay about her response to the first anniversary of the first Covid 19 lockdown. The piece was released by the CMC on as part of their Amplify series on 17th March 2021 coinciding with St...

The British pianist/keyboard's player Kate Halsall has released Ailís Ní Ríain's '2 Steep 4 Sheep [some hills are]' on her new album 'Breathe in me'- a solo album for piano, harmonium and electronics, released March 2021. Described as 'intriguing' by The Wire magazine...

Ailís is honoured to have been nominated to join the Ivors Academy Classical Committee. She will formally join in October 2020. For over 75 years, The Ivors Academy have represented songwriters, composers and music creators. The Ivors Academy of Music Creators is a...

  Ailís Ní Ríain's work for solo altered piano Furibund has been included as part of Sound and Music's Vol 1 contemporary release. Sound and Music is the UK's new music development agency.  You can listen/buy the album here. Definition of furibund: full of fury,...

  Ailís has been award funding by The RVW Trust to support the release of her Debut Disc by NMC Recordings. The RVW Trust is one of the most significant sources of funding for contemporary and recent music in the UK since 1956. The trust was established by the...

Extract from East:West - Where Morning is the Sea  Ailís' commission for the Aerial/Sparks programme curated by Louise Manifold for Galway European Capital of Culture opens to the public on Inis Oirr - the smallest of the three Irish Aran Islands - off the coast...

Ailís has been invited to give a presentation pitch about her Pencil Piano - supported by Unlimited R & D in 2019/20 at the Southbank Centre in London on 15th January 2021. This session of creative ideas and encounters is curated by the Unlimited commissions...

Ailís has been working as a composer with the New York based dance company Kinetic Light on a new dance-theatre work to be premiered at The Shed in New York from 22nd October 2020. Ailís and Kinetic Light spent two weeks as resident artists at the renowned American...

East:West - Where Morning is the Sea, a composition with video, commissioned by Aerial/Sparks as part of Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture was showcased at the 2020 international IETM [International Network for the Contemporary Arts] meeting in Galway, Ireland...

The Royal Irish Academy of Music presents a concert as part of New Music Dublin 2020 Festival at the National Gallery of Ireland on Friday 28th February 2020 at 1pm. They will perform Under the Rose [2000] for violin, piano, flute and spoons. The piece was originally...

Ailís has recently been working on a new commission funded by the Irish Arts Council Commissions Award.  Watershed - a song-cycle for pianist Yonit Kosovske, contralto Julie Comparini with text by the Irish based American poet Jessica Brown will be premiered in...

Ailís is working with Belfast-born writer Maria Fusco on a new music-theatre/opera work Etna Drive which has been selected by The Abbey Theatre in Ireland for research & development funding through its Engine Room scheme. Peacelines first appeared in Belfast in...

The French publisher L'Arche has acquired the rights to the French translation by Annie Peters of Ailís Ní Ríain's play The Tallest Man in the World  most recently produced at The Tank Theater, in New York City 2019. Details may be found here. "Founded in 1949,...

Lauren Redhead and Alistair Zaldua have worked together as a duo since 2012, performing music for organ and electronics, with a further focus on contemporary experimental music, graphic and extended notation for the organ, and live and interactive electronic...

Ailis will present a talk & performance about the pencil piano; an Unlimited supported research & development project she has worked on since Spring 2019. Leeds College of Music3 Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD Wednesday 12th February 2020 at 2pm [c. 45 mins] Her...

IMBOLC Festival in Derry, Northern Ireland presents an immersive installation combining music, sculpture, light, text and video mapping by Ailís Ní Ríain. From Sunday 26 January to Sunday 9 February 2020 [Official opening with reception - Sunday 26 January at 15:00]...

Their performances span the possibilities of the combination from organ with stereo fixed media sound, to organ with live diffusion, organ with live electronics and performances incorporating live notation and improvisation. This has included collaborations with many...

The largest city in Ireland’s western province of Connacht, Galway is the third Irish holder of the European Capital of Culture title. Beginning in February to tie in with the ancient Celtic calendar, the Galway 2020 programme is built around the four Celtic festivals...

Ailís has been invited to give a presentation about her work to the graduate students of composition at the music department of Columbia University in New York City on Wednesday 30th October 2019. Ailís will focus on her 'altered piano' research, Sklonište - her...

Irish is the oldest vernacular written language (i.e. non-Greek) in western Europe, and this longevity of tradition has created one of the great European literatures. Despite Irish language obliteration during colonisation, the language has somehow, miraculously,...

XelmYa+ at Klangräume - the Berlin based trio XelmYa will give a performance of Ailís Ní Ríain's Soundless at St Thomas Evangelical Church in Berlin on Sunday 27th October at 1600. XelmYa+ (Freddi Börnchen - oboe, Alexa Renger - violin, Sylvia Hinz / Sylvia Hinz -...

The Danish classical guitarist Frederik Munk Larsen will give another performance of Our First Lesson in Forgetting for solo guitar as part of Grand Nordic Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark on 27th September 2019. Munk Larsen commissioned the piece from Ailís in 2018...

In the few short years of its existence IMBOLC International Music Festival has grown to become one of Ireland’s leading folk and world music festivals. Whilst still firmly rooted in the musical cultures of this island, the festival has grown in depth and breadth and...

The harpsichordist Goska Ispording gave a performance of Ailís Ní Ríain's 2 Steep 4 Sheep [some hills are] on 14th September 2019 at Paviljoen Ongehoorde Muziek, Eindhoven, Holland.   Harpsichordist Goska Isphording is one of the most exciting performers in her field....

Ailís spent August 2019 on board the RV Celtic Explorer as part of a unique research residency for a new project with Aerial Sparks which will form part of 2020 Galway European Capital of Culture. The ship is a multi-purpose research vessel operated by the Marine...

On Remembrance Sunday 10th November 2019, Feelgood are proud to bring 'These Days - The Manchester Peace Song Cycle' back to the city for a single performance within its historic Cathedral.​ Since its remarkable collaborative creation in 2018, featuring original work...

The German trio XelmYa will give a performance of Soundless for recorder, viola and oboe on Sunday 1st September 2019 at Schwartzsche Villa in Berlin. Soundless is based on a work by Andrew Topel - a visual poet from the USA. The promotion of contemporary music and...

Klangveje #2 Tour by Danish guitarist Frederik Munk Larsen takes place in Summer 2019 lasting on month. The tour includes performances of a newly commissioned guitar piece by Ailís Ní Ríain Our First Lesson in Forgetting. The route goes from Copenhagen, to the south...

The harpsichordist Goska Ispording gave a performance of Ailís Ní Ríain's 2 Steep 4 Sheep [some hills are] on 11th June 2019 as part of the Warsaw Biennale.   Harpsichordist Goska Isphording is one of the most exciting performers in her field. Specializing in...

Ailís is very grateful to Yaddo Artist Colony in Saratoga Springs, New York State, USA for inviting her to spend a month to focus on her work and to ArtsAdmin Unlimited UK for supporting her travel to the USA to enable her to take up this residency.  "Yaddo holds the...

In May 2019 Ailís embarks on on a new research & development commission with Unlimited which will be a musical response for altered piano/pencil based to the work by the Japanese Outsider Artist Koji Nishioka. Unlimited is an arts commissioning programme...

The acclaimed German recorder player and champion of new music, Sylvia Hinz and her trio XelmYa will give the Columbian premiere of Ní Ríain's 'Soundless' [viola, oboe, recorder] on 13th June 2019 as part of the Festival Mujeres en la Música Nueva FMMN. Wednesday,...

A Very Small Consortium's Sam Stranz gave the premiere of 'Loophole' for solo alto saxophone on 5th April as part of the 6:30 Concert Series at the University of Wisconsin, USA. The concert series is designed to connect the campus with the community through the...

  SKLONIŠTE (SHELTER; BOSNIAN) The Irish accordionist Dermot Dunne will perform a programme of contemporary works for solo accordion including Ailís Ní Ríain's Skloniste presented by Hong Kong's Avant Music Association in the Sha Tin Cultural Activities Hall, Hong...

The New York premiere of Ailís Ní Ríain's play The Tallest Man in the World opens at The Tank Theater in New York on 6th March and runs until 17th March. Supported by Culture Ireland and presented by The Tank, New York. Directed by Ran Xia and produced by The Tank,...

This concert will showcase the works of leading female composers from around the world, performed by an all-female classical ensemble. Ailís will give a pre-concert talk at 11.45am followed by the performance at 12.30pm. The programme will include Charlotte Bray’s,...

Ailís has been working with New York based dance Company Kinetic Light on a new full-length dance-theatre piece. In October 2019 they took residency at renowned Jacob's Pillow in Massachusetts to continue to focus on developing the work which will be premiered at The...

Ailís is very grateful to have been awarded a Fellowship to attend the Ragdale Foundation's Artist Residency for the month of February 2019. Ragdale is a non-profit artists’ community located 30 miles north of Chicago, USA. She will spend her time at Ragdale focusing...

St Brigid's Day Celebration - Intimate Performances from Powerful Irish Women "This night of musical and spoken word performances is the perfect way to wave goodbye to winter and look forward to the year ahead with some of the most creative and talented female...

Temenos - Paul Roe (Clarinets) and Laoise O' Brien (Recorders) will give the premiere of Parambassis at The Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin on Sunday 27th January 2019 as part of the Hugh Lane Gallery Concert Series.  Parambassis was commissioned by Paul Roe in 2016 with...

The pianist and contemporary music specialist Xenia Pestova will perform Into the Sea of Waking Dreams – a suite of pieces for speaking pianist at Canterbury Christ Church University on 23rd January 2019. More details.Award-winning professional pianist Xenia Pestova...

 Wolodymyr Smishkewych (tenor) and Yonit Kosovske (piano) premiered Ailís Ní Ríain's song Regret Not Me with text by Thomas Hardy on 15th December 2018 at Gan Shemu'el in Northern Israel. "Regret not me;Beneath the sunny treeI lie uncaring, slumbering peacefully.Swift...

Ní Ríain's 'Soundless' for tenor recorder, violin and oboe will have its UK premiere in Leeds on 8th December 2018. LSTwo ensemble directed by Dr Mic Spencer performs a diverse programme of works by international composers and University of Leeds students, exploring...

The Royal Irish Academy of Music, National Museum of Ireland and the Houses of the Oireachtas mark the centenary of women's suffrage with a very special event in the Seanad Chamber, which celebrates the legacy of women composers and highlights the next generation of...