Interviews / Q&As
Eimear is a cellist with a diverse musical practice ranging from Historical Performance Practice to Sound Art.
Eimear is a keen improviser and has performed with musicians such as The Quiet Club, Strange Attractor and Laura Hyland as well as solo performances in The Guest House, Plugd Records, Zolala, Sonic Vigil, Féile na Gréine, The Dock Arts Centre, Spike Cello festival and the Kat Laughs festival. Eimear has written music for a variety of settings including theatre, art instillation and dance performances. In 2018 Eimear wrote This Island in collaboration with Robert Curgenven. This piece was for solo cello and field recordings from Heir Island. It was performed at The Sirius Arts Centre and as part of Skibbereen Arts Festival.
Eimear is part of the Duo 'Whose Woods These Are' with Natalia Beylis. In 2020/21, they performed at Cairde Festival, Hunters Moon, Echoes at The Castle and Test Site and released their debut album 'Whose Woods These Are' on Nyahh Records,
In 2021 Eimear's debut solo album Things That Happened at Sea was was written and recorded whilst on residency in Cill Rialaig, Co. Kerry and released on Nyahh Records.
More About this Artist
Daryl Worthington, The Quietus“Her intensely lyrical use of the instrument shines through, gentle bows of the strings summoning soft groans and shivering luminescence. ”
Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis“A soundtrack for a planet being born....Eimear Reidy channels a timeless spirit on this sonic narrative, conjuring the rawest emotions before splitting them into infinite, ancient elements. This music feels like something that’s existed within us for millennia, but only now has someone been able to tap into its visceral nature and extract it for all the world to hear. Exquisite. ”
Daryl Worthington, The Quietus“Her intensely lyrical use of the instrument shines through, gentle bows of the strings summoning soft groans and shivering luminescence. It’s almost animistic at times, as though she’s captured the sound the instrument makes as it hums to itself in private. The opening plucks and strums of ‘Prelude’ come in like a series of shudders, while ‘III’s’ fluttering tones conjure images of staring out to sea, which may be prescient as this tape was recorded in a famine village turned artist’s retreat atop cliffs in County Kerry. The mood switches between ghostly spaces and forlorn laments, but most rewarding is the gap left for the imagination. Reidy’s vivid playing leaves behind a tantalising mystery which pushes you into piecing together the story alluded to in the title. ”