Bio
Aoife Kavanagh is an Irish composer and sound designer, active across a variety of music disciplines, including dance, theatre, film, and contemporary instrumental and choral music. Aoife is primarily interested in composing for interdisciplinary work and collaboration with other artists is a key element of her practice.
Aoife has a background in dance and particularly enjoys composing and designing for dance and circus projects. Regular collaborators include Roisin Whelan Dance (Man Down, The Galaxy of Occupations, Iomhá), as well as Aisling Ní Cheallaigh and Jenny Tufts (Nasc, Ar Scath A Chéile, Dúlamán). Other credits include Ballet Ireland’s The Glasshouse, and Double Act by Honey & Lemon.
Aoife has composed and designed extensively for theatre. Recent credits include Reunion by Mark O’Rowe (Landmark Productions & Galway International Arts Festival); and The Vanishing Elephant (Cahoots NI) which returns to the Grand Opera House Belfast in 2024 after a successful off-Broadway run. Other credits include The Saviour (Landmark Productions, performed at Irish Rep Theatre, New York); Ghosts (Abbey Theatre/Landmark Productions); Tom Moran is a Big Fat Filthy Disgusting Liar, which recently toured nationally and internationally at Edinburgh, Sydney and Melbourne Fringe festivals;The Long Christmas Dinner (Abbey Theatre); and My Sister in this House (The Lir Academy). Aoife has also assisted major Irish sound designers including Mel Mercier on Children of the Sun (Abbey Theatre/Rough Magic) and Denis Clohessy on King (Fishamble).
Aoife was one of two awardees of the Contemporary Music Centre’s Emerging Composer Scheme 2022-24. She has written for choirs and instrumentalists throughout Ireland, including for the Irish Youth Training Choir, the Mornington Singers, and bass-baritone Kevin Neville.
Aoife’s short film credits include the animation ‘The Corona’, which was exhibited in the galleries at VISUAL Carlow for three months in 2021. She has previously assisted composer and music producer Anna Rice on projects such as Andrea Corr’s ‘The Christmas Album’ (2022). Aoife enjoys combining her passions for film and dance and has scored several screendance works for artists in Ireland and abroad.
Aoife also has a strong interest in music education. She previously taught piano, composition and music theory to children and adults of all ages for many years, most recently at Waltons New School of Music. She also facilitates composition workshops in primary schools. She holds a BA Double Hons in Music and German from Maynooth University and a Masters in Composition from Trinity College Dublin. Her work has previously been funded by the Arts Council, Carlow County Council and Artlinks.
Aoife is a proud member of the Screen Composers Guild of Ireland, the Irish Composers Collective and the Irish Society of Performance Designers.
