(Viola)
Irish Violist and composer Neasa Ní Bhriain is an internationally renowned musician based between Dublin, Leipzig & Dresden with a focus on open dialogue between the arts and interdisciplinary and
socially relevant work.
She is Professor for Viola at the Hochschule für Musik Dresden since September 2024 and lecturer for Viola at the Hochschule für Musik & Theater Leipzig since 2022. As a chamber music performer she has performed with the likes of Aurelia Visovan, Can Cakmur, Markus Rom, Moritz Kolb, Moritz Ter-
Nedden, Friedrich Thiele, Albert Karch, Mairéad Hickey und Alexey Stadler and has received artistic guidance from Nobuko Imai, Tatjana Masurenko, Garth Knox, Menahem Pressler, Yuri Bashmet,
Eberhard Feltz, Oliver Wille und Wilfried Strehle etc. Neasa has benefited from residencies in the Heinrich Böll Haus in Achill and at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre allowing her to work and write in an intensive atmosphere.
Neasa is a founder member of ensemble reflektor, an award winning chamber orchestra based in northern Germany. From 2018-2023 Neasa was section leader of the Staatskapelle Weimar.
As section leader she has played with the Ensemble Resonanz, Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, MDR
Symphony Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra and has also played with Orchester im
Treppenhaus, Wexford Festival Opera and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. This 24/25 Season sees
Neasa performing at various festival such as PODIUM Festival Esslingen and curating a concert
series in Leipzig with FOKUS Forum für künstlerische Umsetzung e.V. supported in part by
Musikfonds. Neasa will also be curating a concert for ensemble reflektor in Kulturhauptstadt 2025
Chemnitz.
Neasa Ní Bhriain was awarded 2nd Prize at the 2014 Hindemith Viola Competition in Frankfurt
and also received a special Prize at the 2016 Lionel Tertis Competition in the Isle of Man. She was
the recipient of a scholarship to focus on her solo work in contemporary music from Musikfonds in
2023.
She has performed as soloist and chamber musician at Festivals such as, Hitzacker Festival,
UltraBach, Leipziger Jazztage, Jazzwerkstatt Bern, The Gathering (NCH, Dublin),Beethovenfest
Bonn, PODIUM Esslingen Detect Classic, Mecklenburger Festspiele und the Mendelssohn
Festival, Leipzig.
She’s a founder member of the Association “FOKUS Forum für künstlerische Umsetzung e.V.”
(Forum for artistic engagement) which provides a forum for dialogue and networking in the
freelance scene in Leipzig and aims at connecting and exchanging ideas with similar organisations
on an international level.
Neasa improvises, composes and performs electronic music with Viola and pedals and is founder
member of gem: an ensemble dedicated to contemporary and experimental music.
Neasa Ní Bhriain plays a modern viola by Jürgen Manthey (2022) and a modern bow by H.C.
Schmidt.