Performer Biography
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Irish cellist, Ailbhe McDonagh, performs throughout Ireland and internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, Ireland where she now teaches Cello and Chamber Music, she studied with world-renowned cellists Steven Doane, Nora Gilleese, Aisling Drury-Byrne and William Butt. McDonagh gave her debut recital with celebrated Irish pianist John O’Conor at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland.
Over the last ten years, she has performed throughout Europe, Asia and the USA and has appeared as a concerto soloist numerous times all over Ireland and abroad. Performances include concerts at Carnegie Hall, the Yale Norfolk Festival, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Great Irish Houses Festival, for the Irish President at Aras an Uachtarain and on Irish national television and radio. She performs in a duo, The McDonagh Sisters with pianist Orla McDonagh. McDonagh also is a member of the piano trio “The Belisama Trio” and a crossover traditional Irish music group “Trio Elatha”. Keenly interested in contemporary music, McDonagh collaborates with several composers and other artists worldwide and has recorded several CDs of contemporary music. A composer and arranger in her own right, she has had numerous piano compositions published for the national Irish grade examination system, the RIAM Local Centre Examinations. Recently she has published two books of her own compositions for piano with Boosey & Hawkes called ‘It’s a Piano Thing’ McDonagh joined the cello faculty of the RIAM in 2010. Her debut solo CD called “It’s a Cello Thing” was released on 27th April 2012 and was named "CD of the Week" on RTE Lyric FM. She performs on a Postaccini cello. How to pronounce Ailbhe
Ailbhe is pronounced AL-vah. In the Irish language the letters bh are pronounced like a v. |
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Composer Biography
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Ailbhe McDonagh is an Irish composer and international cellist based in Dublin, Ireland. She is a member of the cello faculty of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin.
Ailbhe began composing at an early age and won first prizes for composition at 'Feis Ceoil', (the Irish National Music Festival) and in the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin. While still at school the first of her pieces was published in 2002, when the RIAM Local Centre Examinations (Irish National Grade Examination System) included ‘Anastasia’ in their Grade 4 examination collection. In addition to piano and cello, Ailbhe studied composition at university in Ireland. Following that, she took classes in composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester NY while studying for her Master’s Degree in Performance on cello. Ailbhe composes for all instruments and ensembles. As a cellist, she performs worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician and performs contemporary music regularly. Most well-known for her compositions for piano for children, Ailbhe has had numerous compositions published by the RIAM Examinations System resulting in her pieces being performed nationally by thousands of children in Ireland. In 2017, Ailbhe released two books of piano compositions for the beginner pianist called ‘It’s a Piano Thing’ Books 1 & 2 which were published by Boosey & Hawkes. Since then, Ailbhe has been commissioned by performing artists and festivals worldwide. |
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