As part of my residency at the British Music Collection I researched graphic, open and experimental scores for piano or any solo instrument.
This is the eighth in a series of articles relating to my Embedded residency at the British Music Collection supported by Sound and Music and Unlimited Impact.
As part of my residency at the British Music Collection I researched graphic, open and experimental scores for piano or any solo instrument. The following five pieces are all contained within the British Music Collection.
I selected four scores which I found either interesting or challenging to interpret. In addition, I created a new visual score of my own. We filmed and recorded my performances at Leeds College of Music and I briefly explain my approach to each piece before I perform it.
I am hearing impaired; I wear hearing aids and lipread. I lost my hearing through contracting the encephalitis virus [inflammation of the brain] when I was a child. My hearing loss primarily effects my ability to decipher high frequency sound. In addition, I have hyperacusis which is an increased sensitivity to certain frequencies and a ‘collapsed tolerance’ to typical environmental sound for which I frequently need to wear ear plugs to prevent ear pain and resulting headaches. I have been creating work directly influenced by my experience of deafness since 2007
Read the other articles and interviews in Ailís's series on Music and Diability
Ailís Ní Ríain: Will it be Easy?
Ailís Ní Ríain is an Irish contemporary classical composer and published writer for stage who aims to produce work that challenges, provokes and engages. A regular collaborator with artists in other art-forms, her artistic interests are diverse and combined with an unwavering desire to push and develop her artistic practice through each new project or commission. In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Award for Composers. She lives in Lancashire.
Find out more about Ailís on her British Music Collection profile or her personal website