ALIAYTA IS A VIOLINIST, COMPOSER, AND COMMISSIONER OF NEW MUSIC.
(pronunciation ali - ate - a)
Aliayta Foon-Dancoes is an award-winning Canadian violinist, composer, and interdisciplinary collaborator based in New York.
Performer
Aliayta Foon-Dancoes is an award-winning Canadian violinist, composer, and interdisciplinary collaborator based in New York. As a violinist, she has performed with Caroline Shaw and the Attacca Quartet, PUBLIQuartet, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC, and 12 Ensemble, appearing at venues including the Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and the Philharmonie de Paris, as well as the BBC Proms. Her performance credits also include appearances on Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In fall 2026, she will perform with the Philip Glass Ensemble in the role of Einstein for the 50th anniversary production of Einstein on the Beach at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Composer
As a composer, Aliayta has been commissioned by the Katarina Quartet, SALT New Music Festival, Unheard-of Ensemble, Talla Rouge, and Bang on a Can, and has written for ensembles including the Attacca Quartet, Sō Percussion, TAK, and Becca Stevens. Her recent awards include the NewBassoon Composition Prize (2026), a 2026 Hildegard Commission Finalist, the Lake George Music Festival Call for Scores (winner, 2026), the SOCAN Foundation Young Canadian Composers Award (2025), and the Second Story Initiative Commission Winner (2025).
CoMmisoner & Collaborator
Aliayta has recorded on Esmerine’s Juno Award-winning album Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More and, with her sister Rebecca Foon, co-wrote the soundtrack for One & One Other, a film commissioned by the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Collaborations include work with Patti Smith and Pathway to Paris, performances alongside Patrick Watson at Live at Lost River, and a tour of Phases, a live violin and multi-channel sound performance co-created with the London-based new media design studio Kai Lab.
