Artists 2024
Artistic Director Billy O’Brien enjoys a diverse career which encompasses solo performance, chamber music, contemporary music and teaching. He has appeared as concerto soloist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Hibernian Orchestra, UCD Symphony Orchestra, RIAM Symphony Orchestra, Wexford Sinfonia and Trinity Orchestra in concertos by Chopin, Ravel, Grieg, Gershwin and Beethoven. He has given solo recitals throughout Ireland in venues such as the Field Room, National Concert Hall, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Hugh Lane Gallery, as well as in Spain, France, Finland and the UK. He has appeared in concert series and festivals such as the New Ross Piano Festival, New Music Dublin, Music for Wexford, and the Crawford Gallery, among others. In chamber music, Billy has partnered with many of Ireland's leading musicians, and he has collaborated with the Crash, Ficino and Kirkos Ensembles.
Billy's concerts in 2024 include performances in the NCH chamber music series 'From Antiquity to Modernity'; at the Marble City Music Festival with violinist Patrick Rafter; the world premiere of 'When I Became the Sun' by Ian Wilson with the Crash Ensemble, and performances at the inaugural Waterford Chamber Music Festival. Billy has been winner of the Hibernian Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Maura Dowdall Concerto Competition, and the Teissier bursary (RIAM). In 2023 Billy was awarded a Doctor in Music Performance degree from Trinity College Dublin and the RIAM. Billy completed two years’ postgraduate study from 2016-2018 in Paris under Rena Shereshevskaya, and he studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin with Hugh Tinney and Thérèse Fahy.
Hannah Miller grew up in Ireland, received her Bachelor’s degree from Finland’s Sibelius Academy and graduated with a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School, where she was awarded with the William Schuman Prize for outstanding achievement in music and leadership. Hannah is currently Principal Horn with the Irish National Opera and joined the Irish Chamber Orchestra in 2023. She also performs with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Wexford Festival Opera, and is a former member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland and the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra in Finland. With a keen interest in new music, Hannah is a member of the experimental Kirkos Ensemble, and she has also worked extensively with Crash Ensemble, Le Concert Impromptu, and Ulysses Ensemble in recent years. Hannah is the Festival Director and founder of ‘FuddleFest’, a family-run music festival based at her home in Fuddletown, Wexford, where she also works part-time as a farmer.
Siobhán Doyle is an Irish violinist currently based in Amsterdam. She has performed extensively both at home and on international stages, encompassing solo, chamber music, and orchestral playing. A former member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, Siobhán was one of the soloists with the orchestra in The Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 2020, performing Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins. She has also performed as a soloist with the Dublin Symphony Orchestra and the Orlando Chamber Orchestra. Siobhán has enjoyed musical collaborations with Alexei Grynyuk and Mairéad Hickey as part of the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, and she has performed with leading Irish musicians as part of the Spotlight Chamber Music Series, NCH Chamber Music Gathering, and the Ortús Festival. As a recipient of a full scholarship to the Royal Northern College of Music, she completed her Bachelor’s degree with Leland Chen before furthering her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart with Nurit Stark. Siobhán became a member of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra in 2019 under the musical leadership of Gordan Nikolic.
Ed Creedon enjoys a varied career as a viola player, performing chamber music, in recitals and as an orchestral musician. Recent performances include the National Concert Hall Chamber Music Gathering, tours throughout Ireland with the Lir String Quartet, tours to Finland, France, Spain and India with Camerata Ireland as well as solo performances with Camerata Ireland and Barry Douglas. Since 2016 he has performed regularly with The Vanbrugh. Other chamber music highlights include appearances with the Ficino Ensemble in Dublin, the Piatti Quartet in the U.K., at the Ortús Festival in Cork, and repeat invitations to the Clandeboye Festival in Northern Ireland and the Killaloe Festival of Chamber Music. Recent projects include a national tour with the Solas Quartet, recording an album of contemporary chamber music works with Crash Ensemble and performances in Ireland and Scotland with the Irish Chamber Orchestra.
Hailed as "a major talent" after her Carnegie Hall debut with Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto, Irish pianist Ellen Jansson is quickly establishing herself as one of Ireland’s most versatile and exciting young musicians. She has appeared as soloist with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Esker Festival Orchestra, and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, and has performed in many prominent Irish venues as well as abroad in Carnegie Hall (New York), Alexela Concert Hall (Tallinn), and the Ukrainian Radio Concert Hall (Kyiv).
As a student of Mary Beattie she graduated from Cork School of Music in 2020 as Taught MA Student-of-the-Year, and currently studies with Barbara Moser at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. She is also a past pupil of Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, where she was the winner of the Chetham’s Yamaha Piano Competition. She was awarded a Flax Trust bursary at Clandeboye Festival 2016 and she was a finalist in the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarship 2017. Ellen was awarded the second prize in the Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year 2018 and was also recipient of the Cork Orchestral Society Emerging Artist Award that year. An avid chamber musician, Ellen’s collaborations have included performances with the ConTempo String Quartet, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Ficino Ensemble, Kirkos Ensemble, Vienna Ensemble, and the Winds of Change Quintet. She has performed at the New Ross Piano Festival, Westport Chamber Music Festival, Killaloe Chamber Music Festival, Ortús Chamber Music Festival, and the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, among others.
A passionate advocate for the performance and promotion of music written by women, she has appeared several times at the ‘Finding a Voice’ Festival since its launch in 2018, including giving the first complete Irish performance of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Das Jahr in 2021, and curating and performing a concert of solo and chamber works by Canadian composer Alexina Louie in 2019. She performs regularly with flautist Miriam Kaczor, and their performance at the Castleconnell Autumn Concert Series 2022 was recorded for national broadcast by RTÉ Lyric FM. Ellen has been a répétiteur for the International Music Academy Orpheus, the Hans Staud Music Award, Vienna, and the CSM Opera Platform. Since 2020, she is Coach Accompanist to the MA in Classical String Performance at the Irish World Academy of Music, University of Limerick.
Hugh Murray is a graduate of the Cork School of Music, studying with Ruxandra Colan-Petcu. He currently lives and works in Dublin as a member of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. He has also enjoyed appearances with the John Wilson Orchestra at festivals, the BBC Proms, and their UK tour. Recent orchestral work includes Sinfonia of London and Irish National Opera. Hugh has also been heard as the violinist on the UK touring shows Les Misérables and Book of Mormon. Chamber music appearances include Strauss Metamorphosen at the St. Endellion Festival, Cornwall, Brahms Horn Trio at the Juilliard School, New York, National tours with Ficino Quartet, and premiering Ronan Guilfoyle’s new work ‘Allies’ alongside jazz musicians David Liebman and Richie Beirach at the National Concert Hall, Dublin.
Irish soprano Róisín O’Grady has performed in recital, oratorio and chamber music throughout Ireland and her performance repertoire ranges from the Baroque era to modern day compositions. Róisín studied Music and Italian at University College, Cork and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in concert singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow. She received a First Class Hons. M.A. in Performance at the Cork School of Music in 2008.
She was a member of and a soloist with the National Chamber Choir of Ireland for over two years. She performed with the choir throughout Ireland and toured Holland and Lebanon. In 2011 they performed for US President Barack Obama in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day. Róisín has performed with early music ensembles, orchestras and choral societies throughout Ireland and the UK including the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Irish Baroque Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Cecilia. She is a member of the early music duo tonos who performed in the John Field Room, National Concert Hall, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Sligo Festival of Baroque Music, and was broadcast in concert by Lyric FM. The duo has released two CDs, Songs of Identity and Belonging and Wintersong. She regularly performs with harpsichordist Malcolm Proud. Recitals include the Hugh Lane Gallery Concert Series, Dun Laoghaire Organ Concert Series, Dublin International Organ Festival and Galway Cathedral Recital Series. Festival performances include Galway Early Music Festival, East Cork Early Music Festival, Ardee Baroque Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival, West Cork Chamber Music Festival and Gŵyl Gregynog Festival. In 2023 she performed the Irish premiere of Irish composer Andrew Synnott’s 3 Songs for Gertie at The Royal Irish Academy of Music. She is currently undertaking a DMus in Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she is researching the Ballet and Dallis Lute Books at Trinity College. She is very grateful to Arts Council Ireland from whom she has received numerous bursaries and awards to help further develop her singing career.
Killian White is the first cellist to be awarded the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) Music Bursary, the single largest annual classical music award in Ireland, and one of the largest in Europe. Killian was described as “an outstanding winner who impressed with a superb performance and a crystal-clear sense of purpose,” by John O’Kane (RTE) and, “undoubtedly a performer with a very exciting career ahead of him” by Michael Duffy (RDS CEO).
In addition to being awarded the bursary, Killian has been the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including the Phillip Crawshaw Memorial Prize at the Royal Overseas League International Competition, the Fr Frank Maher Award (2017), the Aileen Gore Cup and RTE Lyric FM Award at ESB Feis Ceoil, the National Concert Hall Young Musician Award, the Flax Trust Award and the Audience Prize at Camerata Ireland Clandeboye Music Festival. Born in 2000, Killian studied first with Martin Johnson, principal cellist with the NSOI, and then with Christopher Marwood at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He recently completed his bachelor’s degree at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin, with Professor Frans Helmerson. Since commencing his studies in Berlin, he has enjoyed a busy concert schedule – performing many times in Germany while also engaging in solo performances in London, Berlin, the NCH in Dublin, and numerous other venues throughout Ireland. His career has led him to play as soloist with many orchestras, including the Staatskapelle Halle, Camerata Ireland, the RTE Concert Orchestra, RTE Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas Symphony Orchestra, the Hibernian Orchestra, Dublin Symphony Orchestra, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, and the New York Concerti Sinfonietta at Carnegie Hall. Killian has a fierce passion for chamber music and has performed in Quartets and other chamber music groups throughout Europe and Ireland. Highlights include performances at the Bartok Memorial House, Budapest, Kleine Zaal of Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin, and at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. Orchestral playing has been an important part of his career since taking part in the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra from 2015-2017. Since then, he has gone on to perform on numerous occasions as part of the Pierre Boulez Ensemble and as principal cellist of several orchestras, including the Irish Chamber Orchestra for an Irish tour in 2022. Killian’s life as an orchestral musician has culminated this year in becoming a member of the prestigious Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) Academy, where he performs regularly as a part of the orchestra. Not afraid to go beyond the boundaries of the classical genre, Killian has also recorded a full-length feature film score for solo cello and has composed and performed features on songs for several Dublin-based songwriters. He is performing on a 2020 Gruszow-Baumblatt Cello, supported by Music Network’s Music Capital Scheme, funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Music Network is funded by the Arts Council.
Sophie Lee is a musicianship and early years music teacher at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She has a BA(Mod) in Music from Trinity College Dublin and a MSc in Performance Science from the Royal College of Music, London. Sophie was awarded her PhD from the University of Limerick in 2021. Her doctoral research investigated the effects of group singing on the health and wellbeing of people living with dementia and their family carers. Sophie is a pianist and violinist and has worked as a musician in healthcare since 2015. She runs the Soothing Sounds music programme at Tallaght University Hospital.