Irish pianist Niall Kinsella is fast establishing himself as one of the most exciting accompanists of his generation. Niall is a graduate of the University for Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, and completed a Masters in Music Performance (Piano) at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin in 2014. In Summer 2017, he studied at the Franz-Schubert-Institut, Baden-bei-Wien, an International Master Course for Lied Interpretation and Summer 2018 he studied at the International Summer Academy of the Mozarteum University, Salzburg. He also holds a BMus degree from University College Dublin, an MA in Music from Maynooth University, and a Higher Diploma in Music Education from Griffith College Dublin. He began is early musical studies at DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama studying piano, flute and musicianship.
He performs regularly across Europe as a concert accompanist, and has appeared in recitals with leading Irish and international singers including Cara O'Sullivan, Celine Byrne, Sandra Oman, Majella Cullagh, Lynda Lee, Sylvia O'Brien, Harriet Burns, Tammy Hensrud, Korliss Uecker, Raphaela Mangan, Sharon Carty, Ema Nikolovska, James Newby, Anthony Kearns, Eamonn Mulhall, Gavan Ring, Igor Onishchenko, Owen Gilhooly. As a chamber musician, he has enjoyed performances with Musici Ireland and RTÉ ConTempo Quartet, and regularly with members of the RTÉ Symphony & Concert Orchestras. He has received masterclasses from renowned accompanists Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, Graham Johnson, Helmut Deutsch, Wolfram Rieger, Sholto Kynoch, Iain Burnside, Dalton Baldwin, singers Elly Ameling, Wolfgang Holzmair, Robert Holl, Birgid Steinberger, Andreas Schmidt, lieder specialist Prof. Richard Stokes and has received répétiteur masterclasses at the National Opera Studio, London. He has performed in venues such as Wiener Musikverein, Wiener Konzerthaus, Mozarthaus Wien, The Liszt Academy, Budapest, National Concert Hall, Dublin, and the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin. ​ ​He has accompanied lieder masterclasses internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Ann Murray DBE, French-song specialist Deirdre Grier-Delaney, Richard Stokes, Professor of Lieder at the Royal Academy of Music, London; mezzo-sopranos Alison Browner & Angelika Kirchschlager.
Niall’s collaborations with choirs have included, Webern-Kammerchor der MDW (Vienna), award-winning Irish chamber choir, Tribal and RTÉ ConTempo Quartet, annual concerts with Chamber Choir Ireland, and RTÉ Cór na nÓg, and also accompanied conducting masterclasses given by Dr. Doreen Rao.
Also an experienced conductor, Niall was selected as RTÉ / Association of Irish Choirs' Conductor in Training for 2014/15, and as part of the programme has worked with the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, RTÉ Cór na nÓg, conducted Irish Youth Choir and received coaching from leading international conductors. As director of Carlow Choral Society and Cambiata, he has conducted several major choral works including Mozart's 'Great' Mass in C minor & Exultate Jubilate, Fauré's Requiem, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Durufle’s Requiem, Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, several performances of Handel’s Messiah (for which he was described a ‘rising star’), and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. In April 2017, Niall was a finalist in the ESB Feis Ceoil Conducting Competition (Ireland) and conducted the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. With over ten year of teaching experience at Higher Education level, Niall is a performance tutor at Maynooth University Music Department, teaching piano to students at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and coaching/accompanying instrumentalist and singers. He is a vocal coach on the American College Dublin's Performing Arts Degree programme, and regularly deputises as a staff accompanist in the vocal department of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin. Niall also runs a busy studio practice, coaching singers in lieder, art-song, oratorio and opera repertoire, and teaching advanced piano students. He has delivered choral workshops across Ireland, including several choral workshops for the National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland. His choral arrangements have been published worldwide by Boosey & Hawkes / Hal Leonard Corporation.