Donnacha Dennehy: Limina National Symphony Orchestra Ireland & Ryan McAdams

• Donnacha Dennehy (b. 1970): “Limina” Piano Concerto:
• 1 Dennehy: “Limina” Piano Concerto: I. Head 08:07
• 2 Dennehy: “Limina” Piano Concerto: II. Chest 09:20
• 3 Dennehy: “Limina” Piano Concerto: III. Nervous System 09:04
• Violin Concerto:
• 4 Dennehy: Violin Concerto: I. Vital, atmospheric and volatile 10:05
• 5 Dennehy: Violin Concerto: II. Tranquil and spacious 12:49
• 6 Dennehy: Violin Concerto: III. Reeling, spiraling 07:39
• Total Runtime 57:04

Info for Donnacha Dennehy: Limina

Grammy Award–winning composer Donnacha Dennehy’s Limina is due August 28, 2026, on Nonesuch Records. The album features premiere recordings of two pieces: the piano concerto Limina and Violin Concerto, performed by National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, conductor Ryan McAdams, pianist Eliza McCarthy, and violinist Stephen Waarts; it was recorded at the National Concert Hall, Dublin. The first movement from Limina, “Head,” is available today.

In an interview between Dennehy and the pianist and composer Timo Andres that appears in the liner notes, Dennehy says of the pieces’ pairing on this album:

“The Violin Concerto came first. And it was supposed to premiere in 2020, but obviously ... we know what happened there. That was actually my first multi-movement concerto. It really took on the idea of the concerto form, because Augustin Hadelich [the violinist for whom the concerto was originally written] was very eager for me to write a multi-movement piece. That’s even why I called it what I called it—because I had written a piece for violin and orchestra called Elastic Harmonic, which is deliberately an anti-concerto.

“And then Limina was last. I wanted to be more wry with the form, to have a bit of joy. There’s a playfulness to it, especially the outer movements,” he continues. “The cadenzas happen at the ends of the movements and come out of transcending this threshold. And only in the last one does the soloist go back and forth with the chamber orchestra. I felt I was pushing against something.”

Hailed as “Ireland’s most important living composer” by the New York Times, Donnacha Dennehy’s Grammy Award–winning music has been called “thrilling” (Guardian), “mesmerizing” (New York Times), “arrestingly beautiful,” (New Yorker), and “shockingly original, while also being compulsively listenable” (Boston Globe). Dennehy’s music has been featured in festivals and venues such as Carnegie Hall, Barbican, MusikFest Berlin, Muziekgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Royal Opera House, BAM, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Kennedy Center, ISCM World Music Days, Musica Viva, and the Bang On A Can, Edinburgh International, Tanglewood, Holland, Huddersfield Contemporary Music, Dublin Theatre, Ultima, Saarbrucken, and Schleswig-Holstein Festivals.

Dennehy’s music has been premiered and commissioned by groups and soloists including Augustin Hadelich, Contact, Crash Ensemble, Dawn Upshaw, Kronos Quartet, Icebreaker, Nadia Sirota, National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, Oregon Symphony, Sō Percussion (Carnegie/Cork Opera House co-commission), St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Third Coast Percussion. Collaborations include pieces with the writers Colm Tóibín (The Dark Places), the director Tom Creed (The Hunger, stage version), and Enda Walsh (a trilogy of operas). Limina is the fourth album of Dennehy’s music on Nonesuch Records, including Grá Agus Bás in 2011 and The Hunger, featuring Alarm Will Sound, in 2019. The 2024 Nonesuch album, The Land of Winter, earned Dennehy and Alarm Will Sound Grammy Awards for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. It also marks a welcome return to recording with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland with whom Dennehy has also recorded Crane (2009), Elastic Harmonic (2005), and The Vandal (2000), commissioned by RTÉ for the orchestra, and O (2002), commissioned by Trinity College Dublin.

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland (NSOI), formerly the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, has been at the center of Ireland’s cultural life since 1948, when the Raidió Éireann Symphony Orchestra, as it was originally called, was founded. In 2022, the orchestra transferred from RTÉ to the remit of the National Concert Hall, where it has been the resident orchestra since its opening in 1981. Today it is a primary force in Irish musical life through year-long programs of live performances of music ranging from symphonic, choral, and operatic to music of the stage and screen; popular, and traditional music; and new commissions, recordings, and broadcasts on RTÉ and internationally through the European Broadcasting Union. School concerts, family-focused events, initiatives targeting emerging artists and composers, collaborations with partner promoters, and organizations extend the orchestra’s reach.

Equally at home in the worlds of opera, symphonic repertoire, and contemporary music, American conductor Ryan McAdams has established a strong presence on both sides of the Atlantic. He is Principal Conductor of Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s foremost contemporary music group. McAdams’ 2025-26 season included performances with the Welsh National Opera, Atlanta Opera, Irish National Opera, National Symphony Orchestra, and his debut with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker. Throughout the season, he also led subscription concerts with multiple Italian orchestras, including a tour with Milan’s I Pomeriggi Musicali and pianist Mikhail Pletnev.

Eliza McCarthy is a London-based pianist celebrated for her bold performances of new and experimental music. She appears as both soloist and ensemble musician across the UK, Europe, and the United States. Deeply committed to developing close creative relationships with composers, she has commissioned, premiered, and recorded works by many leading figures including John Adams, Thomas Adès, George Crumb, Tansy Davies, Donnacha Dennehy, Kit Downes, Jonny Greenwood, Cassandra Miller, Nico Muhly, Emma O’Halloran and Laurie Spiegel. She collaborates regularly with composer and producer + Mica Levi.

Recent highlights include the London premiere of Philip Glass’ North Star at the Royal Festival Hall, a performance of Jonny Greenwood’s eight-hour organ work X Years of Reverb at Big Ears Festival, and a collaboration with photographer Nan Goldin and Soundwalk Collective on Goldin’s film Memory Lost. Alongside her solo work, McCarthy is a member of the James McVinnie Ensemble and Ireland’s leading new music group, Crash Ensemble. She collaborates and works regularly with soprano Juliet Fraser, pianist Siwan Rhys, the London Symphony Orchestra, and Irish National Opera.

Stephen Waarts’ innate and poetic musical voice has established him as a firm favorite with audiences across the globe. In the 2025-26 season, Waarts made his debut with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and with West Virginia Symphony. He also returned to Wigmore Hall, Festspiele Mecklenberg-Vorpommern, Verbier Festival, and Meininger Hofkapelle performing Ligeti Concerto.

A passionate recitalist and chamber musician, Waarts’ regular chamber partners include Sir Andras Schiff, Francesco Piemontesi, Daniel Müller-Schott, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Timothy Ridout, Tabea Zimmermann, and Martin Helmchen. Waarts has appeared at renowned festivals including Aspen, Marlboro, Gstaad, and Rheingau. He has also appeared in recitals at Philharmonie Luxembourg, Philharmonie Haarlem, Fundación Juan March, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Auditorium du Louvre, Boulez Saal, San Francisco Performances, and Vancouver Recital Society.

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland
Ryan McAdams, condutor

Ryan McAdams
has established himself as one of the most versatile conductors, communicators and collaborators of his generation. He is equally prized in symphonic, operatic, and contemporary repertoire. He made a highly successful subscription European debut in February, 2010 with the orchestra of the Maggio Musicale in Florence, where he has returned many times for operas and concerts. He made his Eastern European debut with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Julian Rachlin, and Mischa Maisky in Dubrovnik in September, 2010. His subscription debut with the Israel Philharmonic, replacing an indisposed Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos, was hailed as "extraordinary," "masterful," and "immense[ly] dramatic" by the Jerusalem Post; a live recording of the concert was released by the IPO on the Helicon Classics label. He has returned to the Israel Philharmonic twice since, most recently in a run of performances featuring concerti with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and Orff's "Carmina Burana." A Fulbright scholar, he previously served as Apprentice Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, assisting then-Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert. Mr. McAdams was the first-ever recipient of both the Sir Georg Solti Emerging Conductor Award and the Aspen-Glimmerglass Award for Opera Conducting. ​

In the 2024-25 season, Ryan leads the season opening concert with I Pomeriggi Musicali and pianist Mikhail Pletnev in Milan, Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict for Irish National Opera, John Luther Adams' "Become Ocean" with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte with Opera Saratoga, multiple concerts with Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in Palermo, returns to the orchestra of the Arena di Verona, Istanbul State Symphony, conducts Crash Ensemble at the New Music Dublin Festival, conducts and stage-directs HALO Opera's production of Sweeney Todd, and leads opera scenes with the young artists and orchestra of Festival Napa Valley.

Notable recent appearances include Gounod's Faust with Opernhaus Zürich, opening the 2024 Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele with the German premiere of Cassandra Miller's "I cannot love without trembling" with violist Lawrence Power and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, a collaboration with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz with the Phoenix Symphony, an all-Beethoven tour of Southern Italy with Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, and contemporary music projects with Crash Ensemble, Wordless Music Orchestra, and the Juilliard School. He has lead Carmen and Les pêcheurs de perles with Opera di Roma, the Teatro Regio Torino and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Le nozze di Figaro, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Candide and Owen Wingrave with the Opera National de Lorraine, Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh's The First Child and The Second Violinist for Irish National Opera in London at the Barbican, Dublin, and Amsterdam - and was due to bring it to the Park Avenue Armory in New York City, which was unfortunately cancelled by COVID.

McAdams has also appeared with the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France in Paris at the Philharmonie, BBC Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Teatro Communale in Bologna, Israel Philharmonic, National Symphony in Washington DC, Kansas City Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy, Columbus Symphony, the Ravello Festival, Princeton Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, L'Orchestra de Chambre de Geneve, Juilliard Opera Center, Westchester Philharmonic, New York City Opera, Talea Ensemble, New York City Ballet, Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Indianapolis Symphony, CityMusic Cleveland, Tanglewood Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, New Jersey Symphony, Glimmerglass Opera, and the Juilliard FOCUS! Festival.

A contemporary music advocate, Mr. McAdams is the Principal Conductor of Crash Ensemble, Ireland's leading contemporary music ensemble. He was the conductor for Elliott Carter's 103rd Birthday Celebration at the 92Y with Fred Sherry and Nicholas Phan - a concert that was named one of the Best Classical Music Events of 2011 by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times. Recent contemporary music projects include premiering Jonathan Dawe's new opera "Cracked Orlando" with Anthony Roth Costanzo at the Italian Academy at Columbia University, and leading the world premiere of William Basinski's "The Disintegration Loops" with the Wordless Music Orchestra at the Temple of Dendur in the Metropolitan Museum for the 10th Anniversary of Sept. 11th - a concert broadcast worldwide on National Public Radio. He has premiered over thirty works for the Juilliard Composers Concert series and the New York City Ballet, and served as Assistant Conductor for the American premiere and recording of John Adams' "Doctor Atomic Symphony" with the St. Louis Symphony.

For three years, McAdams was Associate Conductor simultaneously of New York City Opera and New York City Ballet. McAdams also served as Music Director of the New York Youth Symphony from 2007-2012, winning multiple ASCAP awards for innovative programming, and garnering major critical acclaim.

In 2005 and 2006, he attended the Aspen Music Festival as an Academy Conductor, studying with David Zinman. Nominated by both Maestro Zinman and Glimmerglass Opera, he became the first recipient of the Glimmerglass-Aspen Prize for Opera Conducting. In 2007, he was invited by Lorin Maazel to create the post of Apprentice Conductor for the Chateauville Foundation at the Maazel Estate in Virginia, assisting Maestro Maazel on a production of Britten's "The Rape of Lucretia." In 2009, at the invitation of James Levine and the Tanglewood Festival, he served as one of Tanglewood's Conducting Fellows. He was invited back to Tanglewood to conduct the BUTI Orchestra in the Summer of 2013. In 2008, he served as the Assistant Conductor of the Aspen Music Festival. ​

He received his M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the Juilliard School in 2006, and a B.M. in Piano Performance from Indiana University in 2004, where he studied with Karen Shaw.

Donnacha Dennehy
Called “thrilling” by the Guardian, and “arrestingly beautiful” by the New Yorker, Donnacha Dennehy’s music has featured in festivals and venues such as the Edinburgh International Festival; Carnegie Hall, New York; Barbican, London; Muziekgebouw , Amsterdam; Wigmore Hall, London; Royal Opera House, London; BAM, New York; St. Ann’s Warehouse; Tanglewood Festival; Holland Festival; Kennedy Center; Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival; Dublin Theatre Festival; ISCM World Music Days; Bang On A Can; Ultima Festival, Oslo; Musica Viva, Lisbon; Saarbrucken Festival; and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival.

His music has been premiered and commissioned by groups and soloists including Alarm Will Sound, Augustin Hadelich, Bang On A Can, Contact, Crash Ensemble, Dawn Upshaw, Doric String Quartet (Carnegie/Wigmore co-commission), Fidelio Trio, Joanna MacGregor, Kronos Quartet, Icebreaker, Nadia Sirota, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Oregon Symphony, Orkest de Volharding, Percussion Group of the Hague, philharmonie zuidnederland, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, So Percussion (Carnegie/Cork Opera House co-commission), St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Third Coast Percussion, Ulster Orchestra (BBC), and United Instruments of Lucilin (Luxembourg). Collaborations include pieces with the writers Colm Tóibín (The Dark Places), the director Tom Creed (The Hunger, stage version) and Enda Walsh (a trilogy of operas).

Returning to Ireland after studies abroad, principally at the University of Illinois, Dennehy founded Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s now-renowned new music group, in 1997. Alongside the singers Dawn Upshaw and Iarla O’Lionáird, Crash Ensemble features on the debut 2011 Nonesuch release of Dennehy’s music, entitled Grá agus Bás. Other releases include a second portrait disc by Nonesuch (The Hunger, 2019), a number by NMC Records in London, Bedroom Community in Reykjavik and New Amsterdam and Cantaloupe in New York.

In recent years, Dennehy has concentrated especially on large-scale musico-dramatic works. He has now completed a trilogy of operas with the writer/director Enda Walsh: The Last Hotel (2015), The Second Violinist (2017) and The First Child (2021). Other recent large-scale pieces include the docu-cantata The Hunger (2012-16, concert version 2019), originally co-produced by Alarm Will Sound and Opera Theatre St. Louis; Surface Tension for Third Coast Percussion (commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum and Notre Dame University); Overcasting (2019), commissioned by the LA Philharmonic (for their new music group), and Tessellatum, an epic piece for viola (Nadia Sirota) and microtonally adjusted viols (originally multitracked by Liam Byrne in the Bedroom Community recording, but now arranged for various ensembles, including a string orchestra of modern instruments in a new version of 2020). The last couple of years has seen a flurry of orchestral pieces: Brink (2020) for Indianapolis Symphony, Memoria (2021) for the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (to be given its US premiere by the Dallas Symphony in May, 2022) and Violin Concerto (2021), co-commissioned by the Oregon Symphony, Aspen Music Festival and philharmonie zuidnederland for Augustin Hadelich.

Dennehy’s single-movement orchestral piece Crane was ‘recommended’ by the International Rostrum of Composers (2010). In 2017, he won the FEDORA-Generali Prize for Opera (Salzburg/Paris), and in 2021 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. At present, he is writing a large-scale work for Alarm WIll Sound, Land of Winter, to be premiered at the Beethovenfest in Germany in September 2022. Dennehy now lives in America and is a professor at Princeton University. His music is published by G. Schirmer in New York.

This album contains no booklet.