Back to School at the Royal Irish Academy of Music

The best partnerships have a shared vision at their heart. In the case of Clinch and the Royal Irish Academy of Music, it includes a relentless focus on excellence, with an ambition to elevate Dublin’s cultural life and ecosystem to be among the best in the world.

That is why we were delighted, but not surprised, when RIAM was ranked as 12^th in the world for music in the 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject.

Clinch’s sponsorship of the Wigmore Series at the Whyte Recital Hall is now in its fourth year. The series runs throughout the academic year, with the first of a new set of recitals taking place on Sunday 6 September, when long-term musical collaborators Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien take to the stage.

Student masterclasses are central to the series. During their time in Dublin, each internationally acclaimed performer devotes time and energy to nurturing the next generation of musical talent. These classes and intimate Q&A sessions give a real-world perspective on what it takes to perform at a global level. It also gives the students an insight to the mindset of excellence, something that closely reflects our own values at Clinch.

The upcoming series includes the following recitals:

• 6 September 2026 – Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien, who perform three Beethoven violin sonatas, including the expansive ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata.
• 4 November, Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt makes her Wigmore Series Dublin début with a programme featuring music from JS Bach alongside François Couperin, Mozart and Ravel’s luminous Le Tombeau de Couperin.
• 6 December, soprano Nardus Williams and lutenist Elizabeth Kenny bring From Suir to Shore: A Journey in Song from Ireland to Venice to RIAM, tracing a musical journey through Ireland, England, Spain, France, Germany and Italy.
• 25 January, Paul Lewis returns to Dublin with a programme that places two Mozart sonatas alongside works by Schubert and Chopin.
• 9 February, Pavel Haas Quartet (pictured above), perform Beethoven’s first ‘Razumovsky’ quartet and Dvořák’s expansive final string quartet.
• 9 March with The Gesualdo Six, the award-winning British vocal ensemble directed by Owain Park. Their programme, Wishing Tree, weaves together Renaissance masterpieces, contemporary choral works and newly arranged traditional songs.