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ABOUT US

The Ensemble

  • Aisling Agnew is a flautist from Belfast. She has performed internationally including prominent festivals such as Musicahora in Chile, National Flute Association’s 40th Convention at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Jeonju International Sori Festival in Korea, Sarajevo Winter Festival and also closer to home at New Music Dublin, the British Flute Convention in Manchester, Celtic Connections in Glasgow, and the Belfast International Festival. Aisling is host of the popular podcast The Flute NI and she has made many successful recordings, many of which have been broadcast on BBC Radio, RTE Lyric FM and Classic FM. Aisling is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is the recipient of many awards including the Countess of Munster, Arts Council of NI, Creative Scotland and Belfast Classical Music Bursaries. Aisling’s involvement in Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble reflects her continued passion for new music and working with composers. She has premiered and recorded many contemporary works for flute and highlights include performing for Sir Peter Maxwell Davies 80th birthday concert and giving the first performance in Scotland of Penderecki’s Flute Concerto. Aisling regularly performs with various orchestras in the UK and Ireland, she is a founding member of the Irish Memory Orchestra and also performs in Clyde Duo with Welsh Harpist Sharron Griffiths. Concerto performances include with Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and Camerata Ireland.

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    Daniel Browell enjoys a busy and varied performing career, having given recitals in the UK, Europe, China and North America. His debut recital at London’s Purcell Room in the Southbank Centre and concerto performance at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall received critical acclaim in the national press. Daniel particularly enjoys collaborative projects with instrumentalists and singers in addition to his work with the Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble; he has performed with YCAT winner Kathryn Rudge at the Wigmore Hall and on many occasions since, and he has worked with the BBC Philharmonic on numerous occasions, including performing in the orchestra’s chamber music series in Salford. Other recent engagements have included projects with the Ulster Orchestra and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. After studying for his undergraduate degree at the University of Birmingham, Daniel went on to study in Paris, London (Royal Academy of Music) and Chicago. Whilst then going on to become a Junior Fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music, he won numerous prizes and awards. Daniel is in great demand as a teacher; he has given masterclasses and has taught in China, Europe, the Middle East and America, and is highly regarded as an adjudicator. He was appointed Associate Head of Keyboard at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2014 and is currently a member of the jury and organising committee of the Dudley International Piano Competition.

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    David McCann was born in Belfast and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has worked with many of the U.K. and Ireland’s leading orchestras, including the Hallé Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra. David enjoys a busy and diverse performing career, appearing frequently as a soloist and chamber musician in addition to his orchestral work. Highlights of 2024 include performances with Cello Ireland as part of the Cellissimo festival in Galway, solo and duo performances at the inaugural TERRAIN festival of contemporary music in Belfast, a solo performance at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and collaborations with a number of local artists, including singer-songwriter Duke Special and guitarist Colin Reid. David is passionate about contemporary music and has given premiere performances of dozens of new works for cello. He is also active as a composer; in 2017 he was commissioned by HRSE to compose Three Caprices for solo cello. His Six Pieces for solo flute and Suite for solo cello received first performances in 2019, and his Reflexion for solo cello was premiered in 2022.

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    Joanne Quigley McParland is in demand as an orchestral principal and leader having guest led the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, the NSO and The RTE Concert Orchestra. She is the former co-leader of the RTE Concert Orchestra and former member of The Royal Northern Sinfonia. She freelanced regularly as principal player with the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, The Philharmonia and John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Joanne also performs with Sinfonia of London having been involved in The John Wilson Orchestra from 2009-2019. Away from the orchestra Joanne has led the Crash Ensemble on several occasions including performances at Carnegie Hall. She is co founder and Artistic Director of Newry Chamber Music and their flagship group The Fews Ensemble with whom she has performed throughout Ireland. Joanne is on the faculty of The Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. She was a tutor for UYO for 10 years and has also coached for NYO Ireland and NYO Iraq. She plays on a violin by Samuel Zygmuntowitz and with a bow by Noel Burke

  • Sarah Watts studied clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music, and then solo bass clarinet at the Rotterdam Conservatorium. Sarah was awarded the Exxon prize for the best classical music student in Rotterdam and made an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2016. Sarah has achieved an international reputation for her solo bass clarinet playing and has attracted composers such as Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Piers Hellawell and George Nicholson to write music for her. She has released numerous solo and chamber CDs playing on clarinet, basset horn, bass and contrabass clarinet. Sarah is Director of Music Performance at the University of Sheffield and has given masterclasses and workshops in many leading UK conservatoires and universities. She also runs an international solo bass clarinet course on the Isle of Raasay in Scotland and other courses for amateur musicians. Sarah performs extensively with SCAW (bass clarinet and piano duo) and rarescale (low flutes and clarinets). She has completed a PHD exploring bass clarinet multiphonics and published a book on the subject. Sarah is an Henri Selmer Paris artist, Vandoren Artist, and a Silverstein pro artist.

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Guest artists this season

Conductors

Jonathan Mann

Sinead Hayes

Matthew Lynch

Benjamin Haemhouts

Paul McCusker

Lilianna Krych

Matthew Quinn

Instrumentalists

Lidia Jewloszewicz-Clarke

Darragh Morgan

Michael Trainor

Alex Petcu

Lina Andonovska

Ben Gannon

Richard Allen

Marta Piórkowska

Susie Griffin

Singers

Lucy Schaufer

Rebecca Murphy

Rebekah Coffey

Malachy Frame

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Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble is Northern Ireland’s cutting edge contemporary music group, featuring a world-class group of musicians who specialise in the performance of modern music.

 

Showcase performers at Classical:NEXT in Berlin 2024, Hard Rain was founded by composer Greg Caffrey in 2013. They have given multiple premieres and developed a dedicated following for new music in their home city of Belfast.  

Hard Rain feature on several successful recordings, including Up By the Roots (Delphian), The Tyndall Effect (Métier) and their debut double CD A Terrible Beauty (Diatribe) - A former Guardian pick of the week with works by eleven Irish composers.

In addition to their well-established Concert Season at home, and having performed at festivals around Ireland such as New Music Dublin, Sonorities Festival, Walled City Music, Tempered Music Festival, Belfast International Festival and Crescent Festival of Irish Contemporary Music, Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble have given highly-acclaimed performances further afield at Musicahora Festival in Chile, Nieuwe Noten in Amsterdam, Säälchen, Holzmarkt in Berlin and at Birmingham Conservatoire. They are Ensemble-in-Residence at Queen's University Belfast and as dedicated Industry Professionals, the ensemble works closely alongside students and fellow creatives at QUB, performing in two of the finest venues in Belfast; the Harty Room and the Sonic Lab at SARC. As such, they are able to explore the full spectrum of acoustic and electronic music, which is also reflected in their programming.

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 (around 80 pieces to date) and programming of cutting-edge contemporary music, Hard Rain gives audiences access to music and composers’ voices that would otherwise not be heard. The ensemble’s repertoire ranges from virtuosic solo works to chamber, electronic and contemporary opera and they frequently explore cross collaboration with other artistic organisations including dance, visual arts and written word.

With several international engagements throughout the next season, Hard Rain look forward to showcasing the finest local creative talent abroad. They are passionate about bringing Irish music to wider audiences on a worldwide platform and are also looking forward to collaborations with other ground-breaking ensembles: Hashtag Ensemble (Poland) in 2025, and Third Angle New Music (USA) in 2026. The ensemble is excited to explore the possibilities of meaningful exchange and co-curation with other artistic organisations worldwide. 

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