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. She has studied with bandoneonists like Federico Pereiro, Cholo Montironi, Eva Wolff, Alicia Petrollini, and Pablo Jaurena. After moving to Ireland in 2017, Agustina received Galway Arts Council Bursaries to produce her albums, I bhfad ar shiúl (2020) and the upcoming 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 also 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. She also regularly plays in Silent Cinema Galway, composing and performing live music for silent films.

Alec O’Leary

Alec O’Leary was born with a guitar in his hands into a family of musicians and artists. He was guided by his father and grandfather, who played guitar in the style of Segovia and Bream. He went on to study guitar at the Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama with Irish guitarist John Feeley. During this period, Alec regularly travelled abroad for masterclasses with some of the world’s most distinguished musicians, including Manuel Barreuco, Scott Tennant, Sergio Assad, Roberto Aussel and Roland Dyens. Alec has also studied in Naples with Maestro Aniello Desiderio, aided by the Arts Council of Ireland. Today,Alec is one of the most talented, charismatic and creative guitarists of his age, performing to international critical acclaim. As an active performer, arranger, educator and a committed concert promoter, Alec is co-founder and director of one of Europe’s most prestigious guitar festivals, the Guitar Festival of Ireland. Alec has been responsible for several major music projects including the ‘Guitar Traditions’ seminar series in the Royal Irish Academy of Music with John Williams, Paco Pena & Pavel Steidl and the Sony recording ‘Places Between’ with John Williams and John Etheridge. He shares the joy of his musical talent through his students at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin where he was appointed Guitar Lecturer in 2018.

AURA STONE

A scholarship student with Thomas Martin at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Aura relocated to Dublin to join the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and was subsequently appointed sub-principal double bass, a position she held until 2016. A sought-after freelance performer, she now enjoys a varied and diverse career, touring and performing with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Irish National Opera and Wexford Festival Opera. Equally at home in symphony or chamber orchestra, as principal bass of the Orchestra of St Cecilia, she performed the entire series of Bach church cantatas, over a period of 10 years. An experienced recording artist, Aura has participated in hundreds of live broadcasts, film sessions, CD and TV recordings. Aura plays a double bass made for her by Thomas Martin.

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.

Camille O’Sullivan

Born in London of a French mother and Irish father, Camille moved to Cork, Ireland when she was a child. Previously an award-winning architect and portrait painter Camille is a singer/actress who enjoys a formidable international reputation for her interpretations of the songs of Nick Cave, Brel, Waits, Bowie, Radiohead and more.  The award-winning singer - one of the original cast members of the Olivier Award-winning La Soiree- has stunned audiences around the world with her sell-out performances including Sydney Opera House, London’s Royal Festival Hall,The Roundhouse and a show-stealing appearance on Later with Jools Holland BBC.Recently she sold out her 10 night run at Sydney Festival where she won a prestigious Australian Helpmann Award ‘Best Performance’.

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.

Feargal Murray

Feargal has composed music for the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) acclaimed production of "The Rape of Lucrece", arranged for the Irish Film Orchestra, Irish Concert Orchestra and the Orchestra of Ireland. He has co-written with legendary Irish songwriters Jimmy Mac Carthy and Brendan Graham, and with Pulitzer prize-winning Poet Paul Muldoon on his 'A life in lyrics' documentary. He has played/recorded with many Irish artists over the years and is long-time producer, arranger, bandleader and pianist for Camille O'Sullivan. In 2023, he was Musical Director/Arranger for the 5-star, critically acclaimed sold-out run of PIAF at the Gate theatre, Dublin. He has toured extensively, playing such US venues as Radio City Music hall, The Greek Theatre and Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Carnegie hall and UK venues such as The Royal Albert Hall, Festival Hall and London's Roundhouse with Camille O'Sullivan, Dublin's National Concert Hall with Liam O'Flynn, as well as playing at the funerals of Irish legends Shane MacGowan and George Best.

GEALACH QUARTET

The Gealach Quartet was formed in September 2023, under the guidance of Christopher Marwood at MTU Cork School of Music. Alina, Ellen and Kseniia are pursuing their Bachelor Degrees in Music, while Ilona is in the final year of her Masters Degree. They are all specializing in performance with their tutors Christopher Marwood, Katherine Hunka, Gregory Ellis and Simon Aspell. The Gealach Quartet has performed in venues including UCC's Aula Maxima, the Crawford Art Gallery and St. Brendan’s Church in Bantry. In May 2024, the quartet won first prize in CSM's Vanbrugh Chamber Music Competition, performing Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 1. Following this, they performed Debussy’s String Quartet at the Prizewinner’s concert as part of Ortús Chamber Music Festival in St. Peter’s, Cork in February 2025.

Ioana Petcu-Colan

Born in Cork to a musical family, Ioana Petcu-Colan also lived in Nantes, London and Barcelona before making Northern Ireland her home in 2010, where she is now Leader of the Ulster Orchestra. Ioana has toured Europe, the US, South America and Asia, and has performed, recorded, broadcast and coached in her various roles as first violin - as former founder member of the prize-winning Callino Quartet, with piano trio Ensemble Avalon and with South American folk band Lunfardía. Chamber collaborations have been with artists as diverse as Barry Douglas (piano), John Abercrombie (jazz guitarist), Martin Hayes (trad fiddle) and Arcade Fire (indie rock), and as a member of an all-female violin quartet joining the leaders of RTÉ National Symphony, RTÉ Concert and the Irish Chamber Orchestras on tour. She is a long-standing member of Musici Ireland, creating and presenting inter-disciplinary work in complement to their core chamber repertoire. Alongside her role at the Ulster Orchestra, Ioana works as Guest Leader with a variety of orchestras at home and abroad. She is also a member of the string faculty at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. Ioana plays a Gioffredo Cappa violin built in 1695, and proudly owns a very special bow made for her by her first violin teacher and father, Adrian Petcu.

Karan Casey

Irish singer-songwriter Karan Casey has been blazing a trail for over 30 years. She has been striking out lately to explore new areas of performance on the piano and with spoken word and theatre. She has released eleven albums as well as contributing to numerous other artists’ projects and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan, performing with her own band as well as collaborating with such diverse musicians as Maura O’Connell, James Taylor, Bela Fleck, Boston Pops Orchestra, Kate Ellis, Niall Vallely, Pauline Scanlon, The Chieftains, The Dubliners, Peggy Seeger, Karen Matheson, Mick Flannery, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Tim O’Brien and Solas. She achieved a PhD in music at the University of Limerick in 2019. Karan’s new album “Nine Apples of Gold” was released to great critical acclaim in February 2023. Her new stage show about women in the Irish revolutionary period The Women We Will Rise was premiered at the Everyman Theatre in Cork in September 2023.

Kate Ellis

Kate is Artistic Director of Crash Ensemble, cellist with Martin Hayes’ Common Ground Ensemble and has toured with Bono as part of his Stories of Surrender show 2022-2023. Recent projects include the release of a major new work for solo cello by Northern Irish composer Ed Bennett on the Ergodos label, a duo collaboration with Martin Hayes, curation of a contemporary music series ‘Europe: Here and Now’ at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, a residency at Sounds from a Safe Harbour 2023 and the creation of new music in collaboration with the Vernon Spring, Multi-Traction Orchestra and with UK- and US-based musicians as part of Brawl Records Echolocation project. Kate has toured and broadcast in Australia, the USA, Europe and China, performing at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Centre, Shanghai EXPO, Istanbul Akbank Jazz Festival and Edinburgh International Festival with releases on Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, Rough Trade, Brawl Records, Bada Bing, Crash Records, Claddagh Records and Vertical Records and is published by Mute Song.

Larissa O'Grady

Dedicated to performing and commissioning new and experimental music, Larissa’s repertoire encompasses a wide range, from baroque to 20th century works and new compositions by some of today’s most exciting composers. With a musical practice encompassing solo, duet, chamber, symphony and opera orchestral playing, Larissa has collaborated with musicians, dancers, poets and visual designers. Interests in extended violin techniques and site specific musical performance has been at the forefront of projects in recent years with Artistic Residencies at Centre Cultural Irlandais Paris, The Dock Leitrim, and DLR The Lexicon. Sis New Works for Violin, supported by Arts Council Ireland and the Contemporary Music Centre was released on Farpoint Recordings in 2024 and is available on Bandcamp.  Larissa plays a 2021 Christian Bayon violin, 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.

liam Séamus Hickey

Irish violist Séamus Hickey studied with Marjolein Dispa and Nobuko Imai at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, graduating distinction cum laude. Until 2018, he studied with Simon Aspell, Adrian Petcu and Chris Marwood at the MTU Cork School of Music. In Febuary 2022, he recorded and performed as a soloist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. In 2019, Séamus was awarded second place in the Amsterdam National Viola Competition and the Vieuxtemps Prize. In the Aileen Gore Cup at Feis Ceoil, Dublin, he placed first and was awarded the RTÉ Lyric FM award. He is the winner of the 2020 RDS Jago Award. Séamus is the current violist of the Sonoro Quartet, one of Europe’s most promising young string quartets. Sonoro were multiple prize winners at the 2021 Bartok World Competition for String Quartets in Budapest, and enjoy regular international performances. Next season, they will tour Europe's leading concert venues as ECHO Rising Stars. Séamus has been guest principal violist with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Camerata Freden. He has performed in prestigious halls around Europe, including the Zeneakadémia, Budapest, TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and Bozar, Brussels.

Libra ensemble

The Libra Ensemble is driven by a mission to reimagine and re-invigorate how classical music performance is experienced, enjoyed and engaged with. It achieves this with three ‘M’s – memory, movement and multimedia. Repertoire is learned by heart, freeing the musicians to use the space fully and freely.  The multimedia elements include projections and lighting effects to further enhance the musical experience. At the heart of the experience is world-class musicmaking provided by some of Ireland’s most celebrated string players. The Libra Ensemble is composed of Diane Daly, Kate Ellis, Larissa O'Grady and Lisa Dowdall.

Lisa Dowdall

An innovative and versatile musician, Lisa has focused her career on chamber music in all its forms from early music through classical to hardcore contemporary, experimenting with new musical genres, art forms and venues. Lisa has performed as a chamber musician, recitalist, and in chamber orchestras throughout Europe, the United States, South America, Australia and Asia. She has performed at The Edinburgh Festival, BBC Proms, Canberra International Music Festival and Ban on a Can Marathon, with residencies at Huddersfield International Contemporary Music Festival, Princeton University, Montclair State University and Aldeburgh Residencies. Performance highlights include performances in Carnegie Hall (USA), Kennedy Centre (USA), Barbican (UK) as well as live radio broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, Lyric FM, ABC and WNYC. Since 2007, Lisa has been a member of the internationally acclaimed new music group Crash Ensemble, collaborating with composers and artists from all genres and disciplines, premiering works written for the ensemble by Terry Riley, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Nico Muhly and Donnacha Dennehy.

Magnolia quartet

Meet Hannah, Lucia, Jeannette and Anna - The Magnolia Quartet. Formed in September 2024, the quartet have enjoyed discovering the beauty and depth of Smetana and Haydn's string quartets. While Jeannette is currently pursuing her masters degree, Lucia and Anna are in their first year and Hannah is in her second year at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The quartet has enjoyed playing in various settings such as participating in masterclasses with the Leonkoro Quartet as well as in a recording session at the Windmill Lane Studios. They are very much looking forward to taking part in the Killaloe Music Festival this year.

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. Recent compositions include music for ‘Ballad of a Bandit’, a 2024 production by Branar, one of Ireland’s leading theatre companies making work for children. 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.

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.

Tango Fiesta

Tango Fiesta, established in 2008, became Dublin’s leading Tango Company. Kristina and Julian are proudly sponsored by The Argentinian Embassy in Ireland and Argentina, as well as The Art’s Council of Ireland. Selected by the Argentine Embassy, they perform at prestigious events like the Grand Polo in Phoenix Park, Admiral Brown Celebration, and the RDS Annual Charity Bazaar. They have extensive experience on national and international TV, appearing on shows such as The Late Late Show, The Morning Show, and more. Their videos have garnered over 10 million views on YouTube. They partnered with RTE for the historic 1916 Rising celebrations. They have choreographed for major theatre companies in Ireland and abroad such as Riverdance ,Druid, Rough Magic , Tango Pasion, and Fishamble Street to huge critical acclaim. They were the choreographers for the Tango Sections in the Riverdance latest production, Heartbeat of Home. Kristina and julian have taught at workshops and festivals all over the world.