Ailish Tynan

Soprano

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Biography

Ailish Tynan trained at Trinity College, the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. She was a Vilar Young Artist at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and a BBC New Generation Artist. In 2003, representing Ireland, Ailish won the Rosenblatt Recital Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Recent highlights include Gretel Hansel & Gretel for Welsh National Opera; Anna Intermezzo in her debut for Garsington Opera; Handel Messiah on tour with the Academy of Ancient Music under Richard Egarr; Strauss Vier letzte Lieder at the Royal Festival Hall; Schoenberg String Quartet No. 2 on tour with the Callino Quartet and recitals at Wigmore Hall. Additionally, she was a guest commentator for the Song Prize Final at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Operatic engagements include Gretel Hänsel und Gretel andMadame Cortese Il viaggio a Reims;Marzelline Fidelio (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Gretel Hansel and Gretel (Scottish Opera); Tigrane Radamisto (English National Opera); Papagena Die Zauberflöte (Teatro alla Scala); Despina Così fan tutte (Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse); Héro Béatrice et Bénédict (Houston Grand Opera, Opéra Comique and the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg). Other operatic highlights include Sophie Der Rosenkavalier, Nannetta Falstaff and Atalanta Xerxes all for the Royal Swedish Opera; Miss Wordsworth Albert Herring (Opéra Comique and Opéra de Rouen) and Vixen The Cunning Little Vixen (Grange Park Opera).

Among her notable concert appearances are Mahler Symphony No.8 (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi, Philharmonia under Lorin Maazel and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Sir Antonio Pappano); Mahler Symphony No.4 (Prague Symphony Orchestra under Jac van Steen and the Hallé under Sir Mark Elder) and Mahler Symphony No. 2 (Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Myung-whun Chung); Verdi Requiem (Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele under Michael Hofstetter); Haydn The Creation (CBSO under Andris Nelsons) and Vaughan Williams Hodie at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She performs regularly at the BBC Proms where she has performed Bella in Tippett’s A Midsummer Marriage (BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis) and Gliere’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Kirill Karabits).

In recital Ailish works regularly with pianist including Iain Burnside, James Baillieu, Graham Johnson and Christopher Glynn, amongst others, giving recitals at venues and festivals including Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh, City of London, Gregynog, St. Magnus, Brighton and West Cork Music Festivals, and the Vinterfespill in Norway.

Her discography includes Fauré Mélodies (Opus Arte), Nacht und Träume (Delphian), From a City Window Hubert Parry Songs (Delphian) and An Irish Songbook (Signum Classics) all with pianist Iain Burnside, Il re pastore for Classical Opera (Signum Classics), Michael Head Songs (Hyperion) with Christopher Glynn, Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music (EMI), Mahler Symphony No.8 under Valery Gergiev (LSO Live) and with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Lorin Maazel (Signum Classics).

Highlights in the current season include her return to the Royal Opera House as Madame Podtochina’s Daughter in Shostakovich’s The Nose, Haydn La canternina in Eisenstadt for Classical Opera, and debut performances with international orchestras including Beethoven Symphony No. 9 for the Philharmonie Zuidnederland and Mahler Symphony No. 8 in Dresden.

Ailish Tynan is represented by SSArtists worldwide

Reviews

Anna / Intermezzo / Garsington Opera / 2015
"Ailish Tynan gave a winning performance as the Storchs’ much put-upon maid, Anna"
(Classicalsource)

"Ailish Tynan’s. pragmatic maid Anna, bring(s) the Strauss milieu vividly to life.”
(Sunday Express)

Gretel / Hansel & Gretel / Welsh National Opera / 2015
“Tynan’s Gretel was a delight, her sound bright and fresh, and graced with passages of lyrical tenderness”
(Opera)

“…the voices are better matched than any to date…. Tynan delivers her fresh, bright sound with just the right amount of bloom. Together, they judge everything beautifully, the words of David Pountney’s translation always crystal clear.”
(The Guardian)

Handel Messiah / Academy of Ancient Music / Barbican Hall / 2014
“Superlative work from Ailish Tynan and Tim Mead… Particularly outstanding, however, were soprano Ailish Tynan and countertenor Tim Mead. Her ardour perfectly balanced his controlled, authoritative hauteur. The duet He Shall Feed His Flock, in which the soprano takes over the alto line and lifts it heavenwards, was breathtaking.”
(The Guardian)