Years active 1977 – present Music group Size2shoes | ||
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Genres Irish TraditionalFolkCelticGregorian Chant Labels Daisy Discs (Ireland)Gael Linn (Ireland)Sounds True Inc. (USA) Albums Vox de Nube, Caoineadh na Maighdine, The Darkest Midnight, Seinn Aililiú, Celtic Joy Profiles | ||
N ir n n riain ode to bridget
Nóirín Ní Riain (born 1951, Caherconlish, County Limerick) is an Irish singer, writer, teacher, theologian, and authority on Gregorian Chant (plainchant, plainsong). She is primarily known for spiritual songs, but also sings Celtic music, Sean-nós and Indian songs. Nóirín plays an Indian harmonium (surpeti), shruti box and feadóg (whistle). She was Artist-in-Residence for Wexford and Laois. She performs with her sons Eoin and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin under the name A.M.E.N. and gives workshops about Sound as a Spiritual Experience.
Contents
- N ir n n riain ode to bridget
- Salve mater misericordiae ensemble shruti box n ir n n riain seminarians of st patrick s
- Biography
- Solo albums
- N Riain Sons
- Guest Roles Collaborations
- Albums Produced
- Songs
- References
Salve mater misericordiae ensemble shruti box n ir n n riain seminarians of st patrick s
Biography
Nóirín Ní Riain began singing lessons at seven years of age. She later studied music at University College Cork (UCC), specialising in religious music for post-graduate work. She developed as a performer, focusing particularly on religious, Irish traditional, and international religious music. She has performed extensively worldwide—notable events include: the International Peace Gathering at Costa Rica to introduce His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in 1989, The United Nations summit at Rio de Janeiro 1992, the European Cultural Month at Kraków, Poland 1992, the UN Earth summit in Copenhagen 1995, and the World Women summit in Beijing 1995. She has performed in the Royal Festival Hall with Sinéad O'Connor, with the American composer John Cage, with the sons of Karlheinz Stockhausen—Markus and Simon, with Paul Winter at summer and winter solstice concerts in the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York, and with the Scola Gregoriana of Notre Dame University, Indiana, where she performed the leading role in Anima, by Hildegard von Bingen. She sang several times in India as a delegate of the Irish government, and performed in war-torn Sarajevo.
The Cork singer and teacher at UCC, Pilib Ó Laoghaire (1910–1976), was a great influence. He persuaded her to become a singer instead of studying law, and taught her Irish traditional sean-nós singing. In UCC she studied under Aloys Fleischmann and Seán Ó Riada.
As a child, Nóirín often visited Glenstal Abbey in Murroe to listen to the chants of the Benedictine monks. Later she performed and made several recordings with them, under which the trilogy: Vox Clamantis in Deserto (Caoineadh na Maighdine), Vox Populi (Good People All) and Vox de Nube (A Voice from the Cloud).
She has a PhD in theology. Her thesis was The Specificity of Christian Theosony, an in-depth study and representation of sounds—primarily vocal sounds—as a means to religious experience from a Christian perspective.
Solo albums
Ní Riain & Sons
Nóirín has released two albums with her sons Eoin and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin under the name 'Amen'. Ní Riain's sons are also well known as Irish pop band size2shoes.
Guest Roles / Collaborations
Albums Produced
Songs
The BeatitudesVox de Nube · 1989
Ode to BridgetCeltic Soul · 1996
Port Na bPucaiCeltic Soul · 1996