Inis Oírr Asano is a British violist based in London and Manchester, working as a Chamber Fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music, alongside pursuing her Masters at the Royal Academy of Music.

 

Inis Oírr is the 2022 recipient of the Biddy Baxter & John Hosier Music Trust Scholarship, receiving financial support for her place on the one-year Intensive Master of Arts course at the Academy and becoming the first Academy student to receive this award. In July 2022, Inis Oírr graduated with a First Class Honours from the Royal Academy of Music, receiving a Regency Award and the Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Prize upon graduation.

 

She was awarded the Chamber Music Fellowship at the Academy, and has joined the Elmore Quartet in their Junior Fellowship at the Royal Northern College of Music. where she gives regular coachings to Undergraduate and Postgraduate students. In January 2023, she will attend the final round of the Irene Steels-Wilsing Quartet Competition in Heidelberg, Germany, with her colleagues in Elmore Quartet.

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Prior to joining Elmore Quartet, Inis Oírr was awarded first place in the Wolfe Wolfinsohn Quartet Competition at the Academy as a member of the Asaka Quartet, and attended Tunnell Trust’s Chamber Music Coll upon invitation by Jonathan Tunnell. In March 2022, Inis Oírr made her Wigmore Hall debut, performing contemporary string trios with Nash Ensemble member Adrian Brendel.

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Alongside her love for chamber music, Inis Oírr is a keen orchestral player. She currently plays with the Glyndebourne Tour Orchestra, having recently achieved a place on the Glyndebourne's 'Pit Perfect' scheme. She was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra from 2019 until she could no longer join due to Brexit. Since joining the EUYO she has had the opportunity to travel to and perform in 9 different countries and venues, including Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin and Muscat Royal Opera House.

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As a soloist, her performance of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Eulogy with the Academy’s contemporary Manson Ensemble was attended and commended highly by the composer himself. She has also been selected for masterclasses by the Academy with Harmut Rohde and Ashan Pillai. In 2021, she premiered Colin Matthews’ piece Dual which was recorded on the occasion of Academy’s 200 PIECES Bicentenary project.

 

In addition to her extensive viola playing, Inis Oírr previously won the Royal Wind Prize at the ORDA International Recorder Competition in Amsterdam and reached the final round of the Solo Category round.

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Inis Oírr is currently studying under Paul Silverthorne and Yuko Inoue at the Royal Academy of Music (London), supported by the Santander Universities UK Scholarship. She plays a 1765 viola made by Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi, kindly on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.