Artistic Director: Diane Daly

Diane is in demand as a chamber musician, director and improvisor at home and abroad. She enjoys devising her own work and has been invited to perform world premieres of works by leading Irish composers, including Sam Perkins, Linda Buckley and Deirdre Gribbin. In other genres, she has performed and recorded alongside some of the biggest names in rock and leads her own gypsy jazz trio. Passionate about education, her teaching focus is on the development of the whole musician as a creative artist, fostering joy-filled music making, autonomy and self-expression. She is a qualified Dalcroze Eurhythmics teacher and recently became Europe’s first accredited string-playing Body-Mapper. In 2022, her doctoral research was awarded the inaugural Aloys Fleischmann prize for outstanding practice-based research, developing the concepts of embodiment, presence, creativity and connection in string playing. Diane is currently Head of Strings at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Agustina Taborda

Agustina Taborda is an Argentine bandoneonist based in Galway, Ireland. She holds a Bandoneón degree from Rosario National University (2014) and completed the Diplomatura en Tango in 2024. After moving to Ireland in 2017, Agustina received Galway Arts Council Bursaries to produce her albums, I bhfad ar shiúl (2020) and La Reina: Dissection. In 2024, she performed Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramírez with the Galway Baroque Singers in Galway Cathedral and Misa Tango by Martín Palmieri with St. George's Singers in Belfast. She was also awarded the “Culture Moves” scholarship to attend the Tango for Musicians program in Leipzig, Germany. Agustina was featured in the Le Cheile concert on TG4 with the Music Generation Trad Collective. Agustina has completed three tours in Ireland with the tango duet Vito Sputnik and plays regularly with the German tango group Papas C. She has collaborated with artists across genres, including Rodney Owl, Jamie Toomey, and Bajomundo.

Alan Keary (Shunya)

Alan Keary is an Irish-born multi-instrumentalist and producer, with a strong musical heritage, writing and producing music from the age of fourteen. Now based in Manchester and performing under the alias Shunya, his sound is an amalgamation of influences, ranging from his early musical background of classical violin to the sounds of Manchester’s electronic music scene which compliment his highly accomplished abilities as a jazz bassist.

Live performances display varying arrangements ranging from a duo to a 12 piece band. Virtuosic solos fly above live beats drawing similarities to the likes of Snarky Puppy or Robert Glasper. Keary features as violinist, bassist and vocalist whilst also delivering the texture and backbone of electronic beats loops and samples through Ableton.

Anna Gebert

Prof. Anna Gebert enjoys a broad career as a soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster and pedagogue. She has appeared at chamber festivals around the world, including Kuhmo, Ravinia, Staunton, Orford, Helsinki, Oslo Early and Trondheim Chamber Music and Barokkfest. She performed with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and been guest leader with the Stockholm Philharmonic and Opera Orchestras, London Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt and Munich Opera, Helsinki Philharmonic and Odense Symphony Orchestra. She is a member member and guest leader of Barokkanerne Oslo. Anna has been appointed Professor at the Zurich University of the Arts from Autumn 2020, and gives masterclasses and online teaching around the world.

Banshee Brass Quintet

Coming soon.

Boris Hunka

Boris is a multi-instrumentalist and facilitator, specialising in improvisation, creativity and self-expression. As a performing musician, he is a regular fixture at arts centres, theatres and festivals throughout Ireland, as well as broadcast programming including RTÉ’s Sunday Miscellany and the Ray Darcy show. International touring has included venues across the UK and Europe, as well as invitations further afield to Ukraine, Russia, Rwanda, India, Thailand and Borneo. In theatre, Boris has created soundtracks for a number of productions. He co-created and performed in the award-winning ‘Musical Menagerie’, which toured extensively throughout Ireland, Europe and Asia (2011-2016) and the popular ‘Lola Montez Cabaret’ (2008-2019). He has been the Music Director for a number of high profile one-off events at venues including Thomond Park, the Aviva stadium and London’s South Bank Centre. Boris has run the Music Generation programme in Limerick since 2013. In this capacity, he founded the Creative Centre on Cecil Street and has developed regional and national creativity, composition and performance projects. In 2019, he founded the Ease Project, which combines musical expression with mental health messaging for young people. This project reached over 5000 young people and received accolades including a SIFI Mental Health Youth Award and SEI Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

Caroline Moreau

Caroline Moreau is a French singer, performer, educator, composer and researcher in vocal pedagogy. She has a Premier prix de piano (Conservatoire de musique de Marcq-en-Baroeul) and a degree of DUMI — Diplôme Universitaire des Musiciens Intervenants — from the University of Strasbourg. After five years performing French chansons in venues across Ireland, the UK, France and Spain, Caroline created French Singing In Schools, with the support of the Embassy of France in Dublin, a project that combines her singing skills and her passion for teaching. She has worked with Irish National Opera since 2022 as a French singing language coach for cast and chorus on Bizet’s Carmen, Rossini’s William Tell, and Massenet’s Werther. She is currently working on the Sisters of Sorrow project, involving artists from Ireland, Portugal and France who wish to explore and reinterpret the traditional rituals used by female mourners to vocally lament the dead.

Denise Chaila

Denise Chaila is an Irish-Zambian rapper, singer and poet based in Limerick. She released her debut EP, Duel Citizenship, in 2019. She had already featured on the 2016 Rusangano Family album, Let the Dead Bury the Dead and performs with them regularly. Her first album, Go Bravely, was released on 2 October 2020.

Chaila was one of the musical acts featured in the series of remote performances during the COVID-19 pandemic, Other Voices: Courage, in May 2020. In April / May 2022, she opened for Ed Sheeran on his Irish dates of the Mathematics tour.

Donald Grant

Donald Grant is a violinist, fiddle player, collaborator and composer based in Glasgow, Scotland. At an early age he was immersed in the folk tradition of the Highlands of Scotland, learning Gaelic songs from his father who was a singer and teacher. He has since followed a path that defies one musical genre, travelling the globe collaborating with many artists and organisations. He founded the Elias String Quartet in 1998. As one of Europe’s leading Chamber ensembles they have toured extensively, regularly playing in concert halls including Carnegie Hall (New York), Recital Centre (Melbourne), Wigmore Hall (London), Southbank Centre (London), Musikverein (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) Konserthaus (Berlin) and Suntory Hall (Tokyo). They were BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists, Boletti-Buitoni Trust Award Winners and BBC Music Magazine’s Newcomer of the Year. They also have an extensive and acclaimed recording catalogue including the Complete Quartets of Beethoven for the Wigmore Hall’s “Live” label. In 2024/2025 Season Donald was co-commissioned to write “The Night Overtook Us” - new music written for himself, band and orchestra. He has performed it with The Aurora Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble and Manchester Camerata.

Francesco Turrisi

Grammy award winning multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi has been defined a “musical alchemist” and a “musical polyglot” by the press. He left his native Italy to study jazz piano and early music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he obtained a Bachelor and a Master’s degree. He moved to Ireland in 2004, where he's currently based and where he is active as a freelance musician.

Since 2018, he collaborates with American Grammy Award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, Rhiannon Giddens, on a duo project that seamlessly combines music from the Mediterranean with that from the African diaspora in the Americas. In 2019, Giddens and Turrisi released their critically acclaimed duo album “there is no Other”. The album single “I’m on my way” was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award. Their 2021 second duo album “They’re calling me home” was nominated for two Grammy Awards and won as Best Folk Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards.

Joachim Roewer

Born in East Germany, Joachim Roewer graduated from the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt” Weimar and the Orchesterakademie of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, having performed frequently with this world class orchestra in Berlin and internationally. During his studies in Germany (and just after the fall of the Berlin Wall) he was invited to lead the viola section of the International Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado in concert halls throughout Europe.In 1994 Joachim moved to Ireland to become principal viola with the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Over the last few decades he appeared on numerous occasions as soloist with the orchestra. Joachim is a passionate teacher, a member of the Esposito String Quartet and was frequently invited to perform with the Vogler Quartet, the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet and the Contempo Quartet. Joachim teaches viola and chamber music on the MA programme in Classical Strings at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick.

Jonathan Aasgaard

One of Europe’s most versatile cellists, Norwegian cellist Jonathan Aasgaard is active as soloist, chamber musician, studio musician, orchestral principal, teacher and explorer of new music. He is Principal Cello of the Sinfonia of London, a regular guest principal of leading British and continental European orchestras, and, as a dedicated teacher, Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Chamber music performances have taken him across Europe, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, and the USA: he has collaborated with artists such as the violinists Nigel Kennedy, Henning Kraggerud, and Julian Rachlin, violist Lawrence Power, cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Giovanni Sollima, pianists Simon Trpčeski, Boris Giltburg, and Joanna MacGregor, and clarinettist Martin Fröst in a range of prominent festivals and concert halls.

Kathleen Turner

Singer-songwriter, storyteller and community musician, Kathleen Turner is Tyrone born and Limerick adopted. She moved to the city to study community music in 2007, fell in love with the people and place and never left. Since then, her music has grown legs with her debut EP, Some Stories, in 2015 followed up by The Lines Between Us in 2017, which was produced by award-winning folk artist and composer, Chris Wood. At the close of 2019, Turner released her first full album, Like a Lion, in collaboration with renowned multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer, Sean Óg Graham. Described by The Irish Times as a collection of songs “shot through with grit and gumption,” this album is a celebration of women and lays the groundwork for Kathleen’s future projects post-COVID.

Matthew Berrill

Multi-instrumentalist Matthew Berrill leads a diverse career as a performer, improvisor, composer, arranger and curator. Matthew is an integral member of numerous ensembles in the jazz, improvised and traditional Irish music spheres. He works in trio partnership with Iarla Ó Lionáird and Cormac McCarthy, and he plays with Mick Flannery, having recorded on the 2023 No.1 Irish Independent Album release ‘Goodtime Charlie’.  In 2024, he was awarded a month long residency at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris. As a member of Ensemble Ériu, he has recorded three critically-acclaimed albums for Raelach Records, Ensemble Records and Diatribe Records, respectively. In 2022, he graduated with Distinction from the Master’s in Arts course at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he was awarded the Benjamin Doniger Jazz Scholarship. Matthew has worked with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Northern Ireland Opera and the Irish Memory Orchestra. He performs regularly alongside composer and trombone player Colm O’ Hara, including in a world premiere of the Colm O’Hara 10tet at New Music Dublin in the National Concert Hall.

Mia Cooper

Mia studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Yossi Zivoni, and completed her studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. After graduating, Mia joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as principal first violin, and has been in demand as a guest leader with orchestras such as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal National Scottish Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Philharmonia and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ulster Orchestra and Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra.

Mia joined the RTE Concert Orchestra as Leader in 2006, and in the same year joined the violin faculty at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Mike Neilson

Jazz guitarist/composer Michael Nielsen started playing the ukulele at the age of four. Michael won a scholarship and Jim Hall Incentive Award in 1982 to attend Berklee College of Music, Boston. He holds a classical performance diploma, LTCL (Licentiate of Trinity College of Music, London) and a Masters degree in music and physics from DIT.

Equally innovative on acoustic and electric guitars, Michael has gained a reputation as one of the leading guitarists in European jazz. He has performed with international artists, including Kenny Wheeler, Larry Coryell, Kenny Werner, Jason Moran, Simon Nabatov, Eric Revis, Michael Moore, Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman. He has also performed with contemporary classical ensembles VOX21 and Crash Ensemble and was guest soloist on two occasions with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. He lectures worldwide on jazz guitar, improvisation and microtonal composition. He currently teaches at DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama.

Owen Gilhooly-Miles

Irish baritone Owen Gilhooly-Miles is a graduate of the Royal College of Music and National Opera Studio. He made his Royal Opera House debut singing Fauré Requiem for the Royal Ballet and in 2007 represented Ireland at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Owen is a Professor of Singing at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin and as an experienced performer on the operatic and concert stage, brings this knowledge, experience and extensive repertoire to his teaching. From Oratorio, Opera, French Melodie, German Lied to English Song, Owen has spent many years exploring this repertoire through his own performance, as well as working with some of the best coaches and teachers in Ireland, the UK and Europe.

Owen created Vocal Refinery Limited in 2023, which incorporates the Mid-West Vocal Academy and Music School in Co. Limerick and OGM Voice. His experience also extends to choral music and he is Director of the award-winning community choir, Aoide Voices.

Peggy Nolan

Peggy enjoys a varied performance career playing with ensembles of all shapes and sizes. She is a member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Eblana String Trio and Amika quartet and regularly performs with other ensembles including Manchester Collective and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Peggy is frequently in collaboration with a diverse array of musicians, including recent performances at the Edinburgh International, Cheltenham, Órtús and Celtic Connections Festivals. As cellist of Amika, Peggy has collaborated with Jordan Rakei, Rob Luft, Alice Zawadzki, Natalie Williams and Tom Walker, in live performances at Manchester, London and Cambridge Jazz festivals, as well as broadcasts from BBC Maida Vale, Abbey Road and Metropolis Studios and a full-length album Recurring (Live at Kings Place) with Alfa Mist. Teaching is an important strand of Peggy’s work, and she holds cello tutor positions at both the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Royal Irish Academy of Music. In addition, she teaches for Arco, a distance-learning project in collaboration which provides string teaching to students in South Africa and India. Peggy is the Course Director of ConCorda Chamber music course, and is studying for a PhD in Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Rachel Roberts

Rachel Roberts is one of Europe's leading violists, performing internationally as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Toppan Hall in Japan, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Musikverein Vienna, the Philharmonie in Berlin and London’s Wigmore Hall. Prizes and accolades for her chamber music recordings include three Diapason d’Or awards (2009, 2021 and 2023), BBC Chamber Choice, and Fonoforum CD of the month for Brahms Viola Sonatas with Lars Vogt. She is a regular guest at international chamber music festivals such as Salzburg Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, Heimbach “Spannungen” and Mecklenburg Vorpommern. She has recorded chamber music for Hyperion, Champs Hill Records, Signum Classics, cAVI, Deutsche Rundfunk, Alpha Classics, Orchid Classics and BIS Records. She recorded Edward Gregson’s Viola Concerto ‘Three Goddesses’ with the BBC Philharmonic, which was released by Chandos Records in 2025. Rachel is Professor of Viola at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Rhiannon Giddens

Rhiannon Giddens has made a singular, iconic career out of stretching her brand of folk music, with its miles-deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, into just about every field imaginable. A two-time GRAMMY Award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, Pulitzer Prize winner and composer of opera, ballet and film, Giddens has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased, and advocating for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through art.

Giddens has released three albums under her own name and two in collaboration with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, all on Nonesuch Records. American Railroad, her first album in collaboration with the Silkroad Ensemble, was released in November 2024, and her most recent album, a collaboration with Justin Robinson, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, released this past April.

Shay Sweeney

Shay Sweeney is an Irish session musician, with extensive live and studio experience. He plays drums, banjo, mandolin, and guitar, and has performed with acts like Hudson Taylor, Ham Sandwich, Aldoc, The Eskies, Pine the Pilcrow and Molly O’Mahony.

Shay has recorded drums on multiple albums and EPs with artists such as Molly O'Mahony, Blue Fish Diamond, Harry Hudson Taylor and more. He has toured around the UK, Europe, Australia and Fiji, playing major festivals like The Main Stage at Electric Picnic, and venues such as the 3Arena, the 3Olympia and Vicar Street.

Sibeal Ní Chasaide

Sibéal Ní Chasaide, known mononymously as Sibéal, is an Irish singer from the Ráth Chairn Gaeltacht, County Meath, specializing in the centuries-old melismatic Irish singing style of sean-nós. She is best known for singing Mise Éire by composer Patrick Cassidy, who composed music to the poem of Patrick Pearse's Mise Éire at the official government commemorations of the 1916 Rising.

Tara Quartet

Formed in September 2025 in Dublin, the Tara Quartet is based at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Since its formation, the ensemble has been dedicated to developing a strong and unified artistic identity, with a particular focus on the core string quartet repertoire.

The quartet has received valuable artistic guidance from leading chamber musicians, including a masterclass with Corina Belcea of the Belcea Quartet. Further inspiration has come through work with Ruth Gibson and Donald Grant, as well as coachings with David Kenny and Sarah Sew, all of which have contributed significantly to the ensemble’s musical depth and interpretative clarity.

Estella Fischer, violin

Eva Paturyan, violin 

Katie Ní Mhaoláin, viola

Aobhín Keogh Daly, cello