Ailbhe McDonagh

Ailbhe McDonagh (born 29 November 1982 in Dublin) is an Irish concert cellist and composer. She performs worldwide as a soloist, chamber musician and recording artist with many albums to her name. In addition to her playing, Ailbhe is a prolific composer having written works for orchestra, chamber music ensembles and pedagocial purposes. Her compositions have been published by Boosey & Hawkes, Hal Leonard, RIAM and ABRSM. Ailbhe teaches cello at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, Ireland.

Career

Irish cellist, Ailbhe McDonagh, performs throughout Ireland and internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, USA, where she studied under Steven Doane, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, Ireland. Ailbhe currently teaches cello performance at the RIAM.

Ailbhe gave her debut recital with celebrated Irish pianist John O'Conor at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland. She performs throughout Europe, Asia and North America and has appeared as a concerto soloist numerous times in Ireland and abroad. Performances include concerts at Carnegie Hall, the Yale Norfolk Festival, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Great Irish Houses Festival, for the Irish President at Áras an Uachtaráin and on Irish national television and radio.

As a chamber musician, Ailbhe performs in a duo, The McDonagh Sisters, with pianist Orla McDonagh. She is also a member of the Ficino Ensemble and the crossover traditional Irish music group Trio Elatha where she plays traditional Irish music on the cello.

Ailbhe is an established composer with numerous compositions and commissions to her name. London based publishers Boosey & Hawkes have released two books of her piano music entitled It's a Piano Thing. In 2021, Ailbhe published further collections of compositions titled It’s a Cello Thing, a collection of two books of pedagogical pieces for cello. Her compositions have featured regularly in the syllabi of ABRSM, RCM, RIAM and other music institutions. Ailbhe collaborates with many composers and other artists worldwide and has recorded several works of contemporary music.

Ailbhe joined the cello faculty of the RIAM in 2010 and is invited to give masterclasses worldwide. Her debut solo album 'It’s a Cello Thing' was named CD of the Week on Ireland’s national classical music station RTÉ Lyric FM, and is played internationally. 'Skellig' was released in 2020 with the McDonagh Sisters.

In 2021, Ailbhe released the complete Beethoven cello and piano sonatas with John O'Conor on the Steinway label. The recording was positively reviewed with Classical Music Sentinel stating "McDonagh and O'Conor coalesce perfectly, as if propelled by the music's undertow, and echo each other's expressive mien with dynamic balance" and awarding it as one of their Essential Recordings. Classical Explorer remarks that the duo "take the opening of Op. 102/1 to whispered heights, and again later there is a most appealing sense of two-as-one. They find buoyant, almost dancing, rhythms." AllMusic gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Her debut orchestral work the Irish Isles Suite was released in 2023. Each movement of the composition is based around a specific island off the west coast of Ireland. A recording of this three movement piece for symphony orchestra was made by RTÉ Concert Orchestra and conductor David Brophy in the same year.

She performs on a Postacchini cello.

Recordings

Albums

Publications

Books