“The sounds are bright, fresh and inventive…wide ranging and often provocative.” – The Guardian
“… her bold approach combined with ingenious imagining of musical shapes.” – The Wire
“A fascinating interest in marrying sounds and resonances, unusual yet instructive.” – BBC Classical Music 4*
Ailís Ní Ríain is an Irish composer and writer. Ailís works broadly in the areas of concert music, music installation, electroacoustic and music-theatre. Her interdisiplinary approach has led to numerous collaborations with writers, dancers, performers, visual and theatre artists.
Her musical work has been commissioned, performed and broadcast worldwide. She has been awarded the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Award for Composers and Portrait album of her work was released by NMC Recordings in 2023 receiving many favourable reviews.
She has worked with the BBC Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, RTE Concert Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Evelyn Glennie and the New London Chamber Ensemble, the Mornington Singers, BBC Philharmonic, Con Tempo String Quartet, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Unlimited and the Royal Academy of Music.
Ní Ríain is deaf/hard of hearing. She is a passionate advocate for better diversity and inclusion in the arts and has worked with Arts & Disability Ireland, Unlimited, DaDafest. She sits on the EDI Committee of the Musician's Union and is a Trustee of Disability Arts Online.
Ní Ríain has been awarded international fellowships, residencies and been an associate artist at and including Yaddo Artist Colony, USA, Bogliasco in Italy, Ragdale in Illinois, ACA in Florida, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and MusicOMI, New York State. In 2017 she was awarded the Contemporary Music Centre/Irish Cultural Centre Paris Composer Residency.
Ní Ríain has been awarded the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists, the largest single artist award in Europe. She is a Board Director of the Ivors Academy and a board member of Disability Arts Online.
To see recent performances visit: https://www.ailis.info/performances
Ailís Ní Ríain is also a published playwright. She is published by Methuen Drama (Bloomsbury), Nick Hern Books and L'arche [in French translation]
"The first thing I will do is... Begin. Open the mind-vault.Reveal. Delve.” (Ailís Ní Ríain, from FALLING)