Beth McNinch
"It's a rare gift for a musician to combine exceptional talent, along with the skills and vision of a concert impresario. In her directorship of Musici Ireland, Beth McNinch has created a platform for collaboration between Ireland's top musicians, in beautifully curated programmes of verve and brilliance. It's both a pleasure and a privilege for us to broadcast such exceptional Irish artistry on RTÉ lyric fm."
— Liz Nolan, Presenter RTE Lyric FM
Beth has a very good understanding of how to balance a programme to keep it engaging and interesting to the audience. Her strengths lie with matching more unusual works with classical favourites.
As the founder of the ensemble, Beth also manages the day to day running of Musici Ireland. This is a far reaching job, ranging from booking concerts, choosing repertoire and suitable musicians to payroll, fundraising and marketing. Her passion for Chamber Music shows through all these tasks and the great enjoyment she gets from completing an engagement.
INSTRUMENT
VIOLA
Beth McNinch studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Beth began her freelance career in London, where she was in a great demand from major orchestras in the UK.
Beth McNinch is one of Ireland’s leading musicians, enjoying a busy and varied freelance career as a violist, educator, artistic director and producer.
Beth began her freelance career in London after completing her viola studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music, where she performed regularly with the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. As a principal violist, Beth has appeared with Irish National Opera, English National Ballet, London Sinfonietta, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Ulster Symphony Orchestra and RTE Concert Orchestra. She has been principal violist of the Wexford Festival Opera Orchestra since 2008.
A prolific chamber musician, Beth has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, alongside musicians including Clio Gould and Colin Carr.
As a soloist, Beth has performed the Telemann Viola Concerto many times at St Martin in the Fields, London, as part of the 2019 Ardee Baroque Festival and as a live concert broadcast for RTE Lyric FM in 2021, the broadcast subsequently played in 12 Countries worldwide. In 2015, she was soloist for the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with violinist Ioana Petcu-Colan in the National Opera House of Ireland with Wexford Sinfonia, conducted by Fergus Sheil.
In 2021, Beth became the inaugural recipient of the SEVN artists bursary, allowing her time to research and record works for solo viola by women composers in arts venues across the southeast of Ireland. Following this, she commissioned 4 pieces for solo viola composers Libby Croad, Deborah Pritchard, Ailbhe McDonagh and Deirdre Mackay.
!n 2022, Beth began studying the viola d’amore, a 14 string instrument. She now includes this in her improvisational work along with viola. She is currently developing a solo improvised work in collaboration with dancer and aerial artist. In 2022, Beth was awarded a place on the Performance Corporation’s “Creation Artists” residency, creating multidisciplinary works in Ireland and Catolonia. In 2023, Beth performed at the Við Djúpið Music Festival, Ísafjörður, with 3 International cellists, creating a 40 minute improvised piece under the banner “Improv Cohort”.
Beth is the founder and Artistic Director of Musici Ireland. She plays on a cut down Viol by Barak Norman, dating back to the1650s. The instrument was made into a viola by Matthew Hardie in 1818.
Beth has been supported by: SEVN artists bursary, Artlinks!, Creation Artists Residency, Arts Council Bursary Award and Arts Council Agility Award
Supported by Music Network’s Music Capital Scheme, funded by The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Music Network is funded by The Arts Council.
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