Born in Dublin within a family of musicians, Aoife Ní Bhriain is an exceptionally talented and multifaceted violinist. Aoife’s father Mick O’Brien is one of Ireland’s leading uilleann pipe players. Meanwhile, her mother Fidelma is a music teacher who comes from a large family of Irish dancers and musicians. Not to mention, her paternal grandfather was the renowned accordionist ‘Dinny’ O’Brien and her uncle the equally famous tin-whistle virtuoso ‘Donncha’ O’Brien. Moreover, her maternal granddad Don played drums in Fintan Lalor Pipe Band of Dublin; pretty much every cousin was born with a musical instrument in their hand. Whereas, her maternal aunt Gráinne was head of the CLRG, the organization that oversees the commission style of Irish dancing. “I had it on both sides,” says Aoife, “there was no escape.”
In terms of musical education, Aoife Ní Bhriain’s Irish traditional musical heritage joined with classical studies. Markedly, she began studying classical violin at an early age. Notably, after a concert debut at the age of 9 with the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra, Aoife has gone on to perform as a soloist and record with numerous orchestras across Europe and Asia. She has performed with musicians from all genres, including Oscar winner Tim Robbins and his Band of Rogues; Declan O’Rourke; Kris Drever; Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill; Julie Fowlis; and John Sheahan (The Dubliners).
In the field of classical music, Aoife Ní Bhriain has performed as soloist and recorded with numerous orchestras including the RTÉ Concert Orchestra; Korean Chamber Orchestra; Ulster Orchestra; Esker Festival Orchestra; l’Orchestre de Chambre Ariege; MuKo Orchester Leipzig; and HMT Felix Mendelssohn Symphony Orchestra. She performs regularly with the Goodman Trio, Crash Ensemble, Neil O Loghlin’s Cuar, Concorde Ensemble and the newly formed Wooden Elephant String Quintet.
With regard to awards, Aoife has won prizes for both Irish traditional music and classical music, including All Ireland Titles at the Fleadh Cheoil; Bonn Óir Sheáin Uí Riada; The Fiddler of Dooney; a TG4 Gradam Ceoil Award; Camerata Ireland Young Musician of the Year Award; the Campus Internazionale da Musica; Pontino Festival Young Musician Award; 2nd Prize at the Concours International du Violon Marie Cantagrill; as well as 3rd Prize at the Vasco Abadjiev International Violin Competition.
Other awards and scholarships include the Bill Whelan Bursary for exceptional musicians; the Prix d’Or from the Conservatiore de Pays de la Loire, Nantes; an award from Music Network Ireland for the purchase of a violin bow; a Leipzig Live Music Now Scholarship with the Osmosis Quartet; and a scholarship awarded by Herr Dr. Bunge for further studies in Leipzig. Equally important, Aoife was also elected onto the board of Directors of the Irish Traditional Music Archives in 2016.
In 2023, Aoife Ní Bhriain released Double You, a collaborative album with Welsh harp player Catrin Finch. Double You topped the World Music Charts Europe in December 2023.
On the Double You album, Aoife plays a violin by J.B. Vuillaume on generous loan as well as a Jurgen Manthey violin made in Leipzig, Germany. Her bow is an Arthur Vigneron bow from the early 1900s. Aoife’s Hardanger fiddle was made in 2018 by Sigvald Rørlien in the Ole Bull Academy and features drawings by Wiebke Lüders.
(headline image: Aoife Ní Bhriain from the Wonder video, courtesy of bendigedig)
Discography:
Double You, with Catrin Finch (bendigedig, 2023)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.