Ailish Tynan

Irish soprano Ailish Tynan won the 2003 Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. Ailish was a member of the prestigious Vilar Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and a BBC New Generation Artist, where she recorded and performed prolifically with the BBC orchestras and in recital.

Delayed due to COVID-19, Ailish will perform her first Mimì La bohème in a much-anticipated return to Grange Park Opera in summer 2021. Other engagements include recitals at Wigmore Hall, Carmina Burana with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and her return to Garsington Opera in summer 2022.

Ailish established herself with operatic roles including Gretel Hänsel und Gretel (The Royal Opera, Welsh National Opera and Scottish Opera); Madame Cortese Il viaggio a Reims, Marzelline Fidelio and Madame Podtotshina’s Daughter in Shostakovich’s The Nose (The Royal Opera); Vixen The Cunning Little Vixen (Grange Park Opera); Tigrane Radamisto (English National Opera); Papagena Die Zauberflöte (Teatro alla Scala and The Royal Opera); Despina Così fan tutte (Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse); Héro Béatrice et Bénédict (Houston Grand Opera, Opéra Comique and Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg); Sophie Der Rosenkavalier, Nannetta Falstaff and Atalanta Xerxes (Royal Swedish Opera); and Miss Wordsworth Albert Herring (Opéra Comique and Opéra de Rouen).

Among her notable concert appearances are Mahler Symphony No.8 (LSO under Valery Gergiev, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra under Marc Albrecht, 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); 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); Handel Messiah (AAM under Richard Egarr); and Handel Semele (The English Concert under Harry Bicket at Carnegie Hall). She has appeared at both first and last night of the BBC Proms with highlights including Bella A Midsummer Marriage (BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis) and Glière’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Kirill Karabits).

Ailish is a passionate recitalist and works regularly with pianists including Iain Burnside, James Baillieu and Graham Johnson and Simon Lepper, giving recitals at venues and festivals including Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh, City of London, Gregynog, St. Magnus, Brighton and West Cork Music Festivals, the Vinterfespill in Norway and for the Prince of Monaco in the Irish Embassy in Paris. She has performed the world premiere of Nuit d’Afrique written for her by Judith Weir, at Wigmore Hall.

Her numerous recordings include Fauré Mélodies (Opus Arte), Nacht und Träume (Delphian) and An Irish Songbook with pianist Iain Burnside; Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music (EMI); and Mahler Symphony No.8 with the LSO under Valery Gergiev (LSO Live) and Philharmonia Orchestra under Lorin Maazel (Signum Classics). Ailish has presented several episodes of Saturday Classics for the BBC and has appeared on BBC Proms Extra as a TV pundit. Additionally, she has been a Jury member for the Song Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and Wigmore Hall Song Competition.