Ailís Ní Ríain

Composer Ailís Ní Ríain writes music for solo performers or for small combinations of instruments, often employing an altered piano. She is also a playwright whose works have been produced in multiple countries. Ailís Ní Ríain (pronounced ai-leesh nee REE-an) was born in Cork, Ireland, on June 15, 1974. She began her musical career as a pianist and had no thought of becoming a composer, but when she was 16, she attended a concert at Ireland's National Concert Hall and heard Jane O'Leary's piece Islands of Discovery, having no idea until that time that a woman could write musi...