Ailish Tynan was born in Mullingar, Ireland, and studied at Trinity College, the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.

She won the Rosenblatt Recital Prize at the 2003 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Other awards include the Maggie Teyte Competition, Miriam Licette Award and the RTÉ Millennium Singer of the Future.

As a celebrated concert singer, her recent highlights include the opening night of the BBC Proms, Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music and the King’s College Choir in Cambridge then for BBC Radio 3, Mahler 8 with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, Finzi Dies Natalis and Szymanowski Stabat Mater with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Simon Halsey, Mozart’s arias and Exsultate Jubilate with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Michal Dworzynski, Carmina Burana with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Daniele Gatti, Mahler 4 with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins and Ännchen Der Freischütz at the Edinburgh International Festival conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. She also works frequently with all the BBC orchestras, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra, to name a few. 

In recitals, Ailish has collaborated with distinguished accompanists including Malcolm Martineau, Graham Johnson, Julius Drake, Iain Burnside, Roger Vignoles and Barry Douglas, giving recitals at the Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh International Festival, City of London Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, West Cork Music Festival, LSO St. Luke’s and St John’s Smith Square, London.

As a former BBC New Generation Artist, she is frequently heard on BBC Radio 3. Her latest discography includes Irish Songs by Herbert Hughes on the Signum Classics, Muriel Herbert songs on Linn Records and the NMC Songbook. She has just finished recording Fauré songs with Iain Burnside on Rosenblatt label and Poulenc songs with Graham Johnson for Hyperion.