ORA QUARTET
Siún Milne, violin
Molly O’Shea, violin
Ali Comerford, viola
Yseult Cooper-Stockdale, cello
The Ora Quartet, made up of some of Ireland’s most sought-after chamber musicians and collaborators, was founded in 2023. Members Siún Milne, Molly O’Shea, Ali Comerford and Yseult Cooper Stockdale formed the group after enjoying performing alongside each other for several years with a variety of ensembles, including the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Ficino Ensemble, and Kirkos Ensemble.
Since the quartet’s inaugural concert at Fuddlefest of August ‘23, the group has gone on to perform several NSQF National Tours and has been broadcast on Lyric FM. Ora particularly enjoy collaborative work, and curating programmes with a diverse range of artists and genres. Concerts to date have included a series in the Everyman, Cork, working with extraordinary artists such as Mezzo-Soprano Niamh O’Sullivan, performing new arrangements by Cormac McCarthy for traditional singer Hammy Hamilton and String Quartet at the Ionad Cultúrtha, Baile Bhúirne, and recording an album of new works written especially for the group with singer-songwriter James Smith.
Recent engagements have included playing in the University Concert Hall as part of the Limerick Classical Concert Series presented by Lyric FM’s Liz Nolan and recording pieces by RIAM composers in the Whyte Recital Hall, Dublin.
Siún Milne, violin
Siún studied the violin with Ruxandra Colan-Petcu at CIT Cork School of Music before completing her BMus degree on scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Maurice Hasson and Mateja Marinkovic.
Siún has performed with a variety of ensembles throughout her career including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, The Vanbrugh and Callino String Quartet, Aurora Orchestra, Hebrides Ensemble and Scottish Ensemble.
She has participated in masterclasses with Gerhard Schulz at IMS Prussia Cove, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Sylvia Rosenberg and Rachel Podger. As a part of Ólafur Arnald’s string quartet, Siún performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Cross-Linx Festival, Volksbühne Berlin and has toured the UK with Arnald’s soundtrack for “Broadchurch”. She has performed with a diverse range of artists including Pekka Kuuissto, Sam Amidon, Frankie Gavin, singer-songwriter Rumer on BBC’s Later with Jools Holland, Mark Ronson and Pulp.
Molly O’Shea, violin
Molly O’Shea is a violinist from Cork, Ireland. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the Cork School of Music and a Masters in Performance from l’Institute de Musique et de Pédagogie in Belgium.
Now based in Dublin, Molly enjoys a varied career of chamber and orchestral music. Molly joined National Symphony Orchestra Ireland's first violin section in July of 2025 and regularly plays with many of Ireland’s other leading classical ensembles including the RTE Concert Orchestra, the Irish Chamber Orchestra and Irish National Opera.
Also an avid chamber musician, Molly regularly performs in chamber ensembles, collaborating with musicians across a diverse range of disciplines. Her quartet, the Ora Quartet, has performed several national tours supported by the National String Quartet Foundation, and at festivals and venues including, Finding a Voice, the Hugh Lane Gallery and the National Concert Hall.
Ali Comerford, viola
Ali Comerford is an Irish musician, born and raised in Kilkenny. She completed her Masters in Viola Performance at the Manhattan School of Music in New York after gaining a full scholarship to study with Patinka Kopec. During her time there, she won the Fuchs Chamber Music Prize, and the Hindemith Viola Competition, and also played as principal violist under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. After graduating in 2017, Ali performed as a freelance musician in New York and played as principal violist with The New York Chamber Music Players, The Handel Festival Orchestra and TENYC, with whom she premiered works at Carnegie Hall, all while holding a Fellowship at the International House NY. Ali then won a position with Lincoln Center Stage and spent time traveling the world as a chamber musician and soloist, most notably to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Alaska. In 2023 Ali was awarded the Resonate Artist Residency for the National Opera House, Wexford. She has had a full time playing contract with the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland for the last two years and enjoys a varied freelance career. She is also currently on trial with the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Ali holds a Masters in Violin Performance from the Royal College of Music in London and a Bachelor of Music from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Yseult Cooper Stockdale, cello
Yseult Cooper Stockdale is a cellist whose practice spans widely from chamber and orchestral playing to experimental performance, and collaborative composition. She plays internationally with groups such as the Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, Aurora Orchestra, Quiet Music Ensemble, Crash Ensemble, Ensemble Mosaik, and many others. She is a member of the experimental ensemble, Kirkos, and has performed her collaboratively-composed works at festivals such as Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Sound Festival Aberdeen, New Music Dublin, and the London Contemporary Music Festival as well as performing countless premieres. As an orchestral musician, she has sat principal cello with the RTE Concert Orchestra and Irish National Opera, and co-prinicpal with Aurora Orchestra, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. She is a founding member of the Ora String Quartet, with whom she has performed 5 national tours supported by the National String Quartet Foundation. Other chamber ensembles she works with include Ficino, the Vanbrugh, Musici Ireland and her own Trio Cantare. With a keen interest in period performance, Yseult enjoys finding the intersections between her practice on the baroque cello and her work as an experimental performer. She recently joined the faculty at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at UL, as cello teacher on the MA in Classical String Performance.