Aoife Ní Bhriain

Aoife Mairead O'Brien () is an Irish violinist from North Dublin. Her career has traversed numerous musical genres including classical, traditional, jazz and contemporary music. She has been the recipient of numerous awards in both the classical and traditional world, including a Gradam Ceoil TG4 Musical Collaboration Award for her work with the Goodman Trio, and a RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award for Best Folk Instrumentalist. Aoife has been described as "one of the most versatile musicians of her generation" and "an exceptionally talented and multifaceted violinist".

Early life

Aoife Ní Bhriain was born into a musical family in Bayside, a suburb of North Dublin, Ireland. Her father, Mick O'Brien, is an uilleann piper and schoolteacher from a well-known traditional Irish music family in Artane, Dublin. In 2023, he was awarded the highest accolade in traditional Irish music: the Gradam Ceoil TG4 Musician of the Year. Aoife's mother, Fidelma O'Brien, is a banjo player and music teacher, who comes from a large family of Irish dancers and musicians. Her mother taught music to many of the children on their street, Verbena Grove, which produced musicians included the Lyons brothers of The Bonny Men and the Peat family who are cousins of Radie Peat of Lankum.

Inspired by her neighbour Joanne Peat, Aoife began learning fiddle at just 2 years of age, as well as learning to play the concertina. Aoife has two younger siblings, Ciara who plays the fiddle, viola and harp, and Cormac who plays the fiddle and cello. Many of Aoife's extended family were also traditional players, including her maternal grandfather, Don (drums), paternal grandfather, Dinny O'Brien (button accordion), and her uncles, John O'Brien (uilleann pipes), Donncha Ó Briain (tin whistle) and Tom and Andrew O'Brien (fiddle).

Aoife went on to study classical violin at the Young European Strings School of Music with teachers Maria Kelemen and Ronald Masin. She also studied with Maeve Broderick at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. In 2006, Aoife studied under Prof. Constantin Serban in the Conservatoire de la Région in Nantes, France where she completed her Diplôme d'Etudes Musicales (DEM) in violin performance and was awarded the Prix D'Or for exceptional students from the Conservatiore de Pays de la Loire, Nantes.

In 2009, Aoife completed her Leaving Certificate at Gaelcholáiste Reachrann, an Irish-speaking secondary school in Donaghmede, North Dublin. Aoife studied for her bachelor's degree under the supervision of Prof. Mariana Sîrbu in Leipzig. She then studied for her master's degree with Prof. Carolin Widmann at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater, Leipzig, graduating with first-class honours in 2018.

Career

Classical

In the classical world, Aoife has performed as a soloist for various orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Musici Ireland, Korean Chamber Orchestra, HMT Leipzig Symphony Orchestra, Esker Festival Orchestra, Leipzig MuKo Orchestra, Orchestra "Respighi" Latina, Italy, and l'Orchestre de Chambre d'Ariège. In 2013, she performed and toured as a member of the Leipzig Mendelssohn Quartet with the renowned pianist Eliso Virsaladze. Aoife was the leader of the Irish Memory Orchestra and performed regularly with the contemporary group Crash Ensemble.

Aoife has worked with numerous composers in Ireland and performed world premieres in Ireland and abroad, including a recording with Grammy Award-winning producer Judith Sherman. She has performed alongside musicians such as jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, violist Massimo Paris, pianist Finghin Collins, violist Tatjana Masurenko, double bassist Frank Reinecke, and songwriter and actor Tim Robbins and his group The Rogues.

Traditional

As a traditional Irish musician, Aoife has been involved in numerous solo and collaborative projects. She has performed with artists such as fiddle player Martin Hayes and Scottish singer Julie Fowlis. She is part of the Goodman Trio, along with her father and Emer Mayock (flute) with whom she has explored music that originated in the southwest of Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century, collected by musicologist Canon James Goodman. Aoife has recorded two albums with the Goodman Trio: ''Tunes from the Goodman Manuscripts'' (2013), for which they received a Gradam Ceoil TG4 Musical Collaboration Award in 2014, and ''More Tunes from the Goodman Manuscripts'' (2021).

In 2021, Aoife was featured on the ''Drawing from the Well'' series hosted by the Irish Traditional Music Archive, where she spoke about her work transcribing the work of Dublin fiddler and influence Tommy Potts. In 2023, Aoife released a collaborative album with Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, ''Double You'', which topped the World Music Charts Europe in December 2023. In 2024, Aoife was honoured for her contribution to Irish traditional music, winning the Best Folk Instrumentalist at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards.

Instruments

Aoife plays a 19th-century violin by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (Guarneri reproduction) made in Paris, France, (on loan) and a Jürgen Manthey violin made in Leipzig, Germany, (purchased through the Music Network Music Capital Scheme). Her bow is a Joseph Arthur Vigneron bow made in Paris, France, (purchased through an award from Music Network Ireland). Aoife also plays a Hardanger fiddle made by Sigvald Rørlien in the Ole Bull Academy, Vossevangen, Norway in 2018 and features drawings by Wiebke Lüders.

Personal life

In 2022, Aoife married oboist Patrick Flanaghan who is Principal Cor Anglais with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches Cor Anglais at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. In 2024, they collaborated with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra String Quartet, to perform a program that combines their backgrounds in classical and Irish music.

Discography

Albums
* ''Double You'' (with Catrin Finch) (2023)
* ''More Tunes from the Goodman Manuscripts'' (with Goodman Trio) (2021)
* ''Landscapes, Knives & Glue: Radiohead's Kid A Recycled'' (with Wooden Elephant) (2021)
* ''Five Seasons'' (with Birkin Tree) (2019)
* ''Tunes from the Goodman Manuscripts'' (with Goodman Trio) (2013)

Guest appearances
* ''Irish Minimalism'' (by Dave Flynn) (2021)

Awards and nominations

Aoife has won various competitions and awards in the classical genre, including the Camerata Ireland Young Musician of the Year Award in 2011, Campus Internazionale da Musica, Pontino Festival Young Musician Award, 2nd Prize at the Marie Cantagrill International Violin Competition in 2014, 3rd Prize at the Vasco Abadjiev International Violin Competition in 2015 as well as qualifying for the semi finals of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in 2022.

Aoife's traditional Irish music performances have won her seven All Ireland titles at the Fleadh Cheoil

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