Aisling Agnew performs Fantasie No 2 in A Minor by Georg Philipp Telemann in the Lake of Menteith Recording Sessions. www.aislingagnew.com

Filmed in the sculpture hall of the Hugh Lane Gallery March 16th 2025 Programme Thomas Roseingrave: Sonata in A Minor John Buckley: Two Fantasias for Alto Flute Greg Caffrey: The Uses of Not Solo Harp set: Trad Jane O'Leary: Wings in the Air Hamilton Harty: In Ireland Aisling Agnew is a flautist from Belfast. She performs internationally and has toured across many continents, performing at prominent festivals such as the National Flute Association’s 40th Convention at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Jeonju International Sori Festival in Korea, Sarajevo Winter Festival and also closer to home at New Music Dublin, the British Flute Convention in Manchester, Celtic Connections in Glasgow, and the Belfast International Festival as both a soloist and chamber musician. Aisling is host of the successful podcast The Flute NI and has interviewed many performers, teachers and makers about their experiences. Aisling has made many successful recordings featuring CDs, radio broadcasts and live performances online and she specialises in playing a wide range of flutes, performing on silver and wooden concert flutes as well as baroque and Irish flute and whistle. Aisling is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is the recipient of many awards including the Countess of Munster, Arts Council of NI, Creative Scotland and Belfast Classical Music Bursaries. Aisling is flautist with Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble in Belfast, specialising in contemporary music and she also performs with the Irish Memory Orchestra, collaborating with Irish traditional musicians. Aisling regularly performs with various orchestras in the UK and Ireland and she is involved with a variety of music education programmes such as the Ulster Orchestra's Crescendo Project. An artist in the true sense of the word’, concert harpist Richard Allen studied with Gabriella Dall’Olio and Frances Kelly at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, going on to study in Switzerland with Letizia Belmondo at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne. Richard was born in 1993 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he initially trained as a pianist and traditional Irish harper. As a soloist Richard performs recitals and concertos across the UK and beyond following sponsorship as a Countess of Munster Recital Scheme artist in 2017. Notable performances include Glière’s Harp Concerto with the Ulster Orchestra, and Mozart’s Concerto for Flute & Harp with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and recitals at the Clandeboye Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields. In 2017 he won the 2nd Prize at the prestigious Félix Godefroid International Harp Competition in Belgium, following a 1st Prize at the North London Camac Competition in 2016, and the BBC Young Musician’s Platform Award shortly after. Among his artistic influences are Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Anneleen Lenaerts, Isabelle Moretti, Fabrice Pierre, Sylvain Blassel, and the late Germaine Lorenzini, with whom he has taken many masterclasses over the years. His playing is often noted for its palette of shades and colours, and a depth of expression that is rarely heard on the instrument. A graduate of the Philharmonia Orchestra Fellowship Programme he now freelances with orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Opera North, Bremer Philharmoniker, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. In 2023 he was appointed harp tutor at the Institute of Fine Arts at Leuphana Universität in Germany, and gives courses and masterclasses across Europe, including the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Irish Academy of Music, and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

TOUT – Programme Note. A tout [pronounced taʊt] is a slang term used in the north of Ireland meaning informer. This piece was predicated on the idea of reflecting, in some admittedly nebulous way, the “informer” during N. Ireland’s most recent Troubles. Music’s vagueness in terms of literal meaning permits an impartial representation that bypasses how the informant may have been considered in reality, (or may have considered themselves), as either traitor or conversely as an agent in anti-terrorist activity. Indeed, in some cases, they might have simply been a victim of poor intelligence, an error in judgement, a grave mistake. In that sense this piece is non-political; music itself being unable to take a position. The music can only sound unstable, brutal and tense as a means of reflecting the more subjective ideas of horror, danger or mistrust or the ups and downs and twists and turns of deceit that prevailed for victims during the period concerned. There are still people buried in Ireland today (we don’t know where) who were accused of being informants. Many of those abducted were tortured before finally being shot and thrown in unmarked graves. Working class communities had “Touts will be shot” sprayed on the gable walls of houses and everyone knew the danger.

A compilation of clips from the Clyde Duo recorded live in concert on the Isle of Skye, 29th November 2021. Pieces include 'Purple Bamboo Melody' from Three Chinese Dances by Eddie McGuire, 'In Ireland' by Hamilton Harty, Sonata in G Minor by J.S Bach, Danse Lente by Joseph Jongen, Andante con Variazioni by Rossini & Danny Boy arranged by Phil Coulter. Aisling Agnew, flute Sharron Griffiths, harp

World premiere performance of 'In Modo di Martha' at the Ink Still Wet concert in the Harty Room, Belfast in January 2023. Commissioned with funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. “There was a child went forth every day; And the first object he look’d upon, that object he became; And that object part of him for the day, or a certain part of the day, Or for many years, or stretching cycles of years.” Walt Whitman, 1855. This text from Whitman’s poem suitably describes the inspiration behind this piece, which considers how a child becomes more independent as they grow. They are shaped and moulded by their surroundings, by people and experiences; to this end, these surroundings, people and experiences are embedded in their sense of self. Aisling Agnew - solo flute Find out more about Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble: https://www.hardrainensemble.com #belfast #newmusic #irishmusic #contemporarymusic

These Two Fantasias for solo alto flute were written by Irish composer John Buckley in April, 2004 and recorded by Aisling Agnew in Belfast in September, 2021

Filmed in the Abbey Presbyterian Church on March 1st 2026 Hardrain SoloistEnsemble - Peaceline Perspectives Paul McCusker, conductor Ciaran McCabe, violin David McCann, cello Aisling Agnew, flute Sarah Watts, clarinet Daniel Browell, piano Peaceline Perspectives features highly evocative pieces from the North of Ireland. The music is interwoven with voices and soundscapes inspired around Belfast’s Peaceline, which separates the nationalist and loyalist communities. This performance showcases the work of multiple composers whose musical voices are shaped by their shared Northern Irish heritage. Ian Wilson - Eat Sleep Empire fl, cl, vl, vc, pno Ryan Molloy - Gortnagarn ll alto fl, b cl, vl, vc, pno Úna Monaghan – Hunted fl, cl, vl, vc, pno Eduard Zatriqi - War Games fl (picc), cl (bass cl), vl, vc, pno www.hardrainensemble.com/season25-26 With thanks to the Arts Council of Ireland for their support

Echoing Voices for solo alto flute was written by American-Irish composer Jane O'Leary in April, 2017 and recorded by Aisling Agnew in Belfast in September, 2021