Aisling Kenny

Irish soprano Aisling Kenny discovered her love of singing in the Cathedral Choir of her native Galway and later as a music student in the choirs of Maynooth University. She is now a versatile soloist, recitalist, and ensemble singer specialising in historical performance. She has sung as a soloist and ensemble singer with prominent Irish and European ensembles including Collegium Vocale Gent, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Resurgam, Det Norske Blåseensemble, Balthasar Neumann Chor, Camerata Kilkenny, Chamber Choir Ireland, Ricercar Consort, Ensemble Passio, Sestina, Staatskapelle Halle, and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. She has worked with renowned conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Peter Whelan, Grete Pedersen, Monica Huggett, Christian Curnyn and Teodor Currentzis.

International performances as a soloist include Bach’s Johannespassion at Thüringer Bachwochen in Eisenach and in Cantata BWV 73 at Bachfest Leipzig in the Thomaskirche with Collegium Vocale Gent under Philippe Herreweghe, Spirit and Second Witch in Dido and Aeneas with Collegium Vocale Gent and Ricercar Consort, directed by Philippe Pierlot at Le Rivage de Voix festival, and a recital at the Finding a Voice Festival at University of California, Irvine with pianist Lorna Griffitt. She appears regularly as a soloist with the Irish Baroque Orchestra and its Artistic Director, Peter Whelan, including a solo Bach cantata concert at the National Concert Hall Dublin, and in the orchestra’s Irish performances of Handel’s Alexander’s Feast in 2025. Recent engagements include a recital of Dowland and Purcell at Op Enheim in Wrocław, Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 2 with the Gealán Quartet for Music for Galway’s Midwinter Festival, and a tour of Couperin’s Leçons de ténèbres with Sestina.

As a dedicated recitalist, Aisling performs a diverse range of repertoire, including Lieder and art song recitals with pianists Judith Gannon and Una Hunt, Dowland’s lute songs with Thomas Dunford in Paris and Kilkenny, Frottole with lutenist Andrew Maginley at the National Gallery in London, and several collaborations with historical harpist Siobhán Armstrong. Aisling curates recital programmes and collaborative projects for festivals and concert series, including a programme of Dowland songs and Italian madrigals at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin supported by an Arts Council of Ireland Music Bursary. She was recently awarded a Creative Practitioner Bursary from Galway City Council for the launch of the new Spiritus Ensemble with cornetto player, Conor Hastings.

As an ensemble singer Aisling has sung with Gabrieli Consort, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, Instruments of Time and Truth, The Hanover Band, Vox Luminis, RIAS Kammerchor, Utopia Choir and Zürcher Sing-Akademie, and Ensemble Marsyas, working with directors including David Brophy, John Butt, Laurence Cummings, Ivan Fischer, Edward Higginbottom, David Hill, René Jacobs, Paul McCreesh, Lionel Meunier, Paavo Järvi, and Erin Headley, Patrick Ringborg and Masaaki Suzuki.

Aisling has performed at venues and festivals around the world, including Salzburger Festspiele, Bachfest Leipzig, Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Barbican London, and Leipzig Gewandhaus and La Scala. In Ireland, she has appeared at festivals such as Galway Early Music Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival, and the Cork Choral Festival. Aisling performs regularly with choirs and choral societies across Ireland, including the Dublin Bach Singers, Galway Baroque Singers, and Culwick Choral Society.

Aisling studied music at Maynooth University and vocal performance at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel with Evelyn Tubb and Ulrich Messthaler. She has participated in masterclasses with Paul Farrington, Margreet Honig, Emma Kirkby, Christine Schäfer, and Andreas Scholl, and has recently studied with James Platt and Janice Chapman. When not singing herself she enjoys her work as a vocal coach and helping amateur choirs develop their vocal technique.

Aisling appears as a soloist on acclaimed recordings including Weelkes anthems and services (Resonus, 2023) with Resurgam and Cousser’s The Universal Applause of Mount Parnassus (Linn Records, 2022) with IBO.