Musici Ireland

Musici Ireland

Musici Ireland is a women-led, socially engaged arts collective creating original, multidisciplinary work that blends music, theatre, dance, film, and spoken word. Founded in 2012 by violist and artistic director Beth McNinch, the ensemble has become a platform for bold collaboration across artistic genres, with a strong focus on amplifying underrepresented voices and addressing contemporary social issues.
Signature productions include A Mother’s Voice, a poignant tribute to survivors of Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes; Chronically Hopeful, an immersive response to chronic illness and invisible disability; SLIME!, an eco-conscious performance for young audiences; and Deeds Not Words, a dance-film inspired by the suffragette movement.
Led by co-directors Beth McNinch and choreographer Ali Clarke, Musici Ireland is supported by core members Jane Hackett (violin) and Katie Tertell (cello), whose diverse international backgrounds enrich the ensemble’s work. The group has developed a strong reputation for commissioning and performing new music, with a growing catalogue of premieres created through close collaboration with living composers.
In 2025, the ensemble released their debut album Earthrise on the Métier label (Divine Art Recordings), featuring new chamber works by Linda Buckley, Deirdre Gribbin, Ian Wilson, Liam Bates, and Deirdre McKay. Musici Ireland continues to challenge artistic boundaries and inspire conversation through performance.

Beth McNinch, Founder / CEO / Artistic DIrector / Viola
Beth McNinch is an esteemed Irish violist, producer, educator, and artistic director, recently honoured as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for her outstanding contributions to the field. Known for her ability to craft compelling programmes that balance classical favourites with lesser-known gems, Beth is passionate about collaboration across artistic genres. This spirit of innovation is at the heart of her company, Musici Ireland, an acclaimed chamber collective and interdisciplinary production house.
Beth began her career in London after studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music. She quickly established herself as a prominent orchestral violist, performing with leading UK ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared in principal viola positions with the Irish National Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, English National Ballet, Ulster Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.
In the past couple of years, Beth has made her directorial debut with two major Musici Ireland productions: A Mother’s Voice, a multi-media performance honouring women affected by Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes, and Chronically Hopeful, an interdisciplinary work exploring themes of invisible disability through music, movement, and spoken word. Both projects exemplify Beth’s commitment to socially engaged art and creating space for underrepresented voices.
She is a core contributor to Improvising Across Boundaries, a four-year research project led by University College Dublin and the Improvised Music Company, which supports women and gender minority improvisers in Ireland. Her involvement in improvisation led to her participation in the 2023 “Icelandic Sessions” at the Við Djúpið Music Festival in Ísafjörður.
Beth plays on a rare cut-down Barak Norman viol, originally made in the 1650s and converted into a viola by Matthew Hardie in 1818. Her work has been supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Artlinks!, SEVN, and Creation Artists Residency.

Soo-Jung Ann, Piano
Praised by the German music critic Marie-Louise Funk as “an inspiration beyond excellence, beyond time and space” (Die Rheinpfalz), Soo-Jung Ann has been crossing, expanding and recreating the boundaries of music. Ann established her career as a major pianist by winning numerous prizes at reputable International Piano Competitions: first prize at the 5th International Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn (2013), Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli prize of the Piano Academy in Eppan (2013) and first prize at the Concurs Maria Canals of Barcelona (2012). A multi-award winning South Korean pianist based in Europe, she has since been a leading force of 21st century classical music internationally, performing widely across Germany, Italy, Austria, France and Ireland and with major orchestras such as Klassische Bonn Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Kracow Philharmonic Orchestra, Macedonia Philharmonic Orchestra, Wieniawski Philharmonic Orchestra, Rzeszow Philharmonic Orchestra, RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Madrid Symphony Orchestra, Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Barcelona Catalan Valles Symphony Orchestra and Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. 
Ann studied with Prof. John O’Conor and Prof. Thérèse Fahy and received her Doctoral degree in Music Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She also studied with Prof. Pavel Gililov and completed a Postgraduate Course at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg in 2014. She released her own recording of 12 Soler Keyboard Sonatas No.75-86 (2018) with Naxos, demonstrating her mature skills, her pure and complex sound.

Jessie Grimes, Clarinet
London based Irish clarinettist Jessie Grimes has a varied and eclectic career. With a clarinet in hand she is equally at home giving a chamber music recital as improvising with toddlers. When the clarinet is in its case she makes do with a microphone, presenting family concerts for major orchestras across the UK and Ireland, and dabbling in radio and podcasts.
She has been named as Artist In Residence for Dublin’s National Concert Hall 24-25 concert season. Focussing on Learning & Participation, Jessie will devise and present 7 main stage family concerts and run co-creative workshops across the community.
Alongside 2021 RPS Enterprise Award recipients the Jacquin Trio, she has won competitions including the Royal Overseas League and St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Music Competitions. As a soloist she has performed at venues including the Purcell Room, St Martin in the Fields and St John’s Smith Square. 
Jessie has always loved being part of a giant orchestral sound. She’s been principal clarinet of the Wexford Festival Opera Orchestra since 2014, trialled as co-principal clarinet with the RTE Concert Orchestra and has also enjoyed guesting with UK and Irish symphony, chamber, radio and session orchestras.
Passionate about sharing music, she taught at the Royal College of Music Junior Department for a decade, has been a contributor to BBC Radio 3 and has presented live on BBC television. Over lockdown 2020 she launched Jessie's Homemade Garden Jam, a live-streamed chamber music and gardening show which garnered thousands of views and some passionate and loyal fans both online and over the fence! In 2021 it won a prestigious RPS Trailblazer Award and was featured on Classic FM and in Grow Your Own Magazine.
She is keen to ensure music is available to everyone, and leads education projects for the City of London Sinfonia, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, and Sinfonia Viva among others. She is a core member of the award-winning London Rhymes project, writing songs with parents and toddlers in challenging circumstances. They were commissioned to compose and refresh the KS1 primary curriculum for Sing Up, have albums on Spotify/YouTube and a live touring show. 
Over lockdown 2020 she launched Jessie's Homemade Garden Jam, an 8 part live-streamed chamber music and gardening show which garnered thousands of views online and some passionate and loyal fans! In 2021 it won a prestigious RPS Trailblazer Award which funded an 8-part Season 2, and was featured on Classic FM and in Grow Your Own Magazine. 
She also ran the popular weekly #PlayAlongSymphony project, facilitating connected orchestral music making online during the Covid pandemic from 2020-2021
Jessie graduated with an MMus from the RCM in 2011 whilst living in London and learning the art of building triple decker sandwiches as practice fuel. As well as garnering top sandwich skills, she was awarded the WCOM Silver Medal for Outstanding Musical Achievement as well as RCM Rising Star and Senior Woodwind Prizes
When she’s not clarinetting or presenting, Jessie loves loves swimming in the sea, planting seeds to watch them grow and hiking/foraging for wild mushrooms with her spouse Brogen.