Concert details: Thursday 28 June, 2018 at 1:10pm in Dublin Writers Museum.

GuitaRiam, the Royal Irish Academy of Music guitar ensemble was formed in late 2011 by its director and head of guitar studies Marion Hyland. The ensemble is made up of past and present guitar students, ranging from senior to doctorate level and many are prizewinners in the Academy and at ESB Feis Ceoil. Its aim is to explore the possibilities of a larger guitar group and its repertoire.  As the guitar is generally a solo instrument, it gives the players the opportunity to experience larger scale works and have a positive, enjoyable and musical experience.

GuitaRIAM gave its first very successful performance of the ensemble version of Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint for the RIAM’s 2012 chamber music programme in April, 2012 followed by a performance in the Kevin Barry Room of the National Concert Hall at the invitation of the Great Music in Irish Houses Festival.

In 2013, the ensemble was given the great honour of presenting the first performance of a new work “April Song” by the late celebrated French composer and guitarist Roland Dyens. It was commissioned by the Guitar Festival of Ireland for GuitaRIAM, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the festival. The ensemble gave the Irish premiers of three Roland Dyens compositions including Concerto en Si, with GuitaRIAM member Eoin Flood as soloist. April Song was recorded for YouTube in the spring of 2017.

GuitaRIAM has collaborated with flamenco guitarist John Walsh over the past few years and gave a performance of his flamenco version of the Seguidilla from Bizet’s Carmen at the RIAM string week in 2014.

In February 2018, GuitaRIAM gave a memorial concert for the late French/Tunisian guitarist and composer Roland Dyens in The National Gallery of Ireland  and was joined on stage for a performance of his Concerto en Si by the RIAM’s International Visiting Artist, Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang. This concert was a collaboration between the NGI and  RIAM and was completely sold out.

GuitaRIAM have performed in The Peppercannister Church, National Concert Hall, Kevin Barry Room NCH, St Andrews Westland Row, Wood Quay Venue, The John Field Room, The National Gallery and were invited to perform at the first Guitar Symposium at DIT Conservatory of Music 2017.