Ailís Ní Ríain facts for kids
Ailís Ní Ríain (born June 15, 1974) is a talented Irish artist. She is known for creating music and writing plays.
Ailís Ní Ríain's Music
Ailís Ní Ríain was born in Cork, Ireland. She is a contemporary classical composer who is deaf and hard of hearing. This means she creates modern classical music. In November 2016, she won the important Paul Hamlyn Award for Composers.
Her music has been played on radio stations like BBC Radio 3, RTÉ, and BBC Radio 4. People all over the world have enjoyed her musical works.
Her Musical Style and Collaborations
Ailís Ní Ríain's first album, The Last Time I Died, came out in 2023. It received many good reviews. She has worked with famous groups such as the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic. She also collaborates with artists who work in other fields. These include visual art, writing, photography, and illustration.
As a pianist, Ailís Ní Ríain is interested in special ways of playing the piano. This includes using "prepared piano" techniques. She has been a Fellow at several artist centers around the world. These include the Ragdale Foundation in the USA and the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris.
Her music is collected and shared by the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin. The British Music Collection also has some of her musical pieces.
Ailís Ní Ríain's Writing
Ailís Ní Ríain also writes plays and other literary works. Her books are published by well-known companies like Bloomsbury. She has won awards for her writing, including the Tom Erhardt Award. She was also nominated for the James Tait Black Award.
Her Plays
Her first play, BEATEN, was first performed in Liverpool and Glasgow in 2007. Since then, it has been shown in Germany, Sweden, Ireland, and London.
Another play, Desolate Heaven, was first performed in London in 2013. It was later shown at the Everyman Palace Theatre in Cork, Ireland.
The Tallest Man in the World was first performed in Ireland in 2014. It was also considered for the Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference in the USA. The play had its first American performance in New York in 2019.
Ailís Ní Ríain's plays have been translated into French, German, and Swedish. Her French works are represented by L'Arche in France.
Selected Music Works
Ailís Ní Ríain has created many different types of music. Here are some examples of her works:
Music for Solo Instruments
- Counterweight (2024)
- Oneiric (2024)
- Mascaron (2022)
- Hiding Out 'neath the Everything (2021)
- Tick (2020)
- The Height of Me (2018)
- When I die, you can do what you want (2014)
- Beautiful Cracked Eyes (2008)
Music for Duos (Two Instruments)
- Sour Morning Crimson (2020)
- Parambassis (2019)
- Highfalutin (2017)
- The Consequences of Falling (2013)
- End with Words of Hope (2010)
Music for Trios and Quartets
- Born Unfixed to Bend and Break and Leave Behind (2023)
- Wait (2020)
- Soundless (2016)
- The Last Time I Died ... (2002)
Music for Larger Groups
- Revelling/Reckoning (2021)
- Dubinina's Tongue (2015)
Music for Theatre and Opera
- Wired (2022)
- Break Down De Doom (2017)
- I Used to Feel ... (2016)
- Brief-Blue-Electric-Bloom (2010)
Vocal Music (for Singers)
- Fáinleoga (2024)
- Refuse to the Wrecked (2023)
- From the Diary of an Exile (2022)
- Watershed (2020)
- A Crow's Wisp/Sop Préacháin (2019)
- Song of Letters (2016)
Orchestral Music
- The Land Grows Weary of its Own (2023)
- Calling Mutely Through Lipless Mouth (2022)
- Flower Scar Road (2021)
Music Installations
Ailís Ní Ríain also creates music installations. These are art pieces where music is part of the experience in a specific place.
- Dendrocopos (2023)
- East:West - Where Morning is the Sea (2020)
- No Other Word For It (2019)
- Linger (2015/16)
- Intone (2013)
- Taken (2011-2012)
- Lighthouse Lullaby (2009)
Artist Residencies
Ailís Ní Ríain has been invited to many artist residencies around the world. These are places where artists can live and work for a period of time.
- Yaddo, New York, USA
- Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, France
- Ragdale, Illinois, USA
- Bogliasco Foundation, Italy
- Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, USA
- OMI International, New York, USA
- The Atlantic Center for the Arts, Florida, USA
- Aldeburgh Artist Residency, Suffolk, UK
- Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Ireland
