top of page
  • Instagram
  • White Facebook Icon
  • White Twitter Icon
  • Spotify
  • White YouTube Icon

DISCOVER

It was amazing to bring brilliant music and stories from Belfast to the heart of Berlin for Classical:NEXT on 15th May. We were overwhelmed by our warm reception in Germany and had an incredible time performing and meeting many other innovative musicians whilst shining a spotlight on the wealth of musical creativity in Northern Ireland.

 

On 1st June we had a very special day of pop-up performances featuring soloists from the ensemble playing in the galleries of the Ulster Museum. See the links below to discover some of the composers we featured during this takeover of the Ulster Museum as well as some of the brilliant Northern Ireland composers we have worked with in this and previous seasons.

HR-2491.jpg
About

HARD RAIN NEWS

Open for Submissions!

Ink Still Wet Commissioning Scheme 2024/25, supported by PRS Foundation

Season 2024/25

Coming this October! Stay Tuned.

Classical:NEXT 2024 Festival 

HRSE are going to Berlin! 

6th Peter Rosser Composition Award 2023

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED!

Featured Young Artists 2023/24

MUSICIANS ANNOUNCED!

PRSF Early Career Commission Scheme 2023/24

COMPOSERS ANNOUNCED!

Album Review

Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music

HRSE New Album Release

A TERRIBLE BEAUTY

ABOUT US

Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble is a world class group of musicians based in Belfast, dedicated to the performance of modern and contemporary music. The ensemble was founded by composer Greg Caffrey in 2013 and recently celebrated their 10th anniversary season.

In addition to their well-established concert series at home, and having performed at major festivals around Ireland, Hard Rain have also featured internationally at Musicahora Festival (Chile), Nieuwe Noten concert series (Amsterdam) and at Birmingham Conservatoire (UK), often incorporating workshops and masterclasses. As Ensemble in Residence at Queen's University Belfast, Hard Rain are dedicated Industry Professionals and are based at the Sonic Arts Research Centre,
a state of the art facility opened by Karlheinz Stockhausen in 2004.

Hard Rain’s mission is to give a platform and visibility to the vibrant community of local composers, performing their work alongside the music of leading exponents of contemporary music worldwide. Through extensive commissioning and programming of cutting edge contemporary music, HRSE gives audiences access to music and composers’ voices that would otherwise not be heard. The group’s activities serve as a showcase for the talent of highly specialist performers, inspiring and developing the next generation of composers, musicians and audiences through innovation, ideas and enthusiasm.

HRSE 2024.jpg
THE CORE ENSEMBLE
white-flute-1.png

Aisling Agnew

Artistic Director / Flute

white-music-stand-1.png

Sinead Hayes

Concerts Manager / Conductor

white-piano-1.png

Daniel Browell

Piano

white-clarinet-1.png

Sarah Watts

Clarinets

white-violin-1.png

Joanne Quigley McParland

Violin

white-cello-1.png

David McCann

Violoncello

ADMINISTRATION

Aisling Agnew

Interim Artistic Director

Sinead Hayes

Interim Concerts Manager

SUPPORT US

HRSE is a registered charity (NIC102506) and a not-for-profit organisation. We welcome your support for the music we perform and for the activities we provide in the community. Any donation, no matter how small, would be really appreciated.

 

Alternatively, this season we are continuing our Friends of Hard Rain Scheme. Click below to find out more on how to rain support on us.

OUR FUNDERS

ACNI_PF_LF_1_289_4CP_Stacked.jpg
Queen’s_Red_Logo_-_Landscape.jpg
Culture-Ireland-logo-tagline.png
logo_britishcouncil.png
PRSF-Talent-Development-Partner-(w-PPL-o

Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble is a PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development Partner. www.prsformusicfoundation.com

Contact

GET IN TOUCH

STAY UP TO DATE
ADDRESS
Sonic Arts Research Centre

Queen's University Belfast

Cloreen Park

Belfast BT9 5HN

EMAIL

info@hardrainensemble.com

  • Spotify
  • White Facebook Icon
  • White Twitter Icon
  • Spotify
  • YouTube
bottom of page