News

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,...