Programme

Bruch - Selection from 8 Pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Op. 83

Francaix - Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano

Conor Sheil was born in Dublin and studied clarinet and piano in the DIT School of Music (now TU Dublin Conservatoire). His clarinet teachers included Joe Coughlan and Brian O’Rourke.

Recent theatre work includes 'Improbable Frequency' and 'Taming of the Shrew' with Rough Magic, as well as ‘Sweeny Todd’ and 'Streetcar Named Desire' at the Gate Theatre.

Conor Performed solo clarinet for the TV documentaries, 'The Irish Pub' and 'Older Than Ireland'.

As an orchestral musician Conor has been engaged by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and many freelance groups.

He has worked consistently in opera for Irish National Opera and for Wexford Opera Festival, with both of whom he has enjoyed a long association.

Duo Anima

Duo Anima are Andreea Banciu (viola) and Aileen Cahill (piano). With the aim of showcasing the beautiful, but less well-known, viola repertoire, they have performed and toured extensively. Programmes have included works by German, Austrian and Russian composers. More recently, the Duo has focused on reviving works by female composers, such as Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Rebecca Clarke, Minna Keal, and Amy Beach, to highlight their works and bring diversity into the viola repertoire.

Andreea Banciu is the violist and co-founder of ConTempo Quartet, Galway Ensemble-in-Residence since 2003, and RTÉ Quartet-in-Residence from 2014 to 2019. As part of ConTempo Quartet, Andreea has won 14 International Prizes in Chamber Music Competitions, most notably in London, Munich, Berlin, Prague, Graz, Hamburg, and Rome. With ConTempo Quartet, she has toured extensively and recorded the Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Bartok & Shostakovich string quartet cycles. In 2016, Andreea was conferred a Doctor of Music, honoris causa, by the National University of Ireland, Galway, in recognition of her contribution to the Arts. Currently, she is a Lecturer in Viola at TU Dublin Conservatoire and a visiting Lecturer in Chamber Music at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Pianist Aileen Cahill is best known for her extensive collaborative work across instrumental and vocal genres. A Masters graduate in Solo Piano (Dr. John O'Conor, Royal Irish Academy of Music) and Piano Accompaniment (Catherina Lemoni-O'Doherty, TU Dublin Conservatoire), Aileen has been awarded many prizes and bursaries for solo piano, piano concerto, instrumental and vocal chamber music, as well as for further research. In concert, she has appeared with Budweis Philharmonic Orchestra (Switzerland), Viarmes Chamber Orchestra (France), Greystones Symphony Orchestra, Irish Youth Wind Ensemble. She is a frequent conductor-soloist with Sligo Baroque Orchestra, with whom she has performed five Mozart piano concerti. Previously repetiteur at Dundalk I.T., Maynooth University, and Lecturer in Piano and Piano Accompaniment at TU Dublin Conservatoire, she is now a doctoral candidate at the Conservatoire and Scholar-in-Residence at the Contemporary Music Centre.