Dr Hannah Fahey is course director of the Bachelor of Arts in Voice at the University of Limerick, Ireland. She is an academic, singer and voice educator and she has performed internationally as a soloist and ensemble singer in medieval, contemporary and Irish music. Hannah has also composed commissioned music for film, radio, and aerial dance theatre.

Her research interests are in voice studies, vocal pedagogy and social singing and health. As a choral conductor, she has worked with many different types of choir, covering all age groups and diverse styles of repertoire – from plainchant and polyphony, to contemporary and popular music. She previously directed a Master of Arts in Ritual Chant and Song, taught primary and secondary school children through her work with Music Generation, and also lectured in primary school music education at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.

Dr Kathleen Turner is a singer, songwriter, community musician and Director of the MA Community Music at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick. She is also an experienced community choral leader and has directed a number of significant performances. Kathleen holds a PhD in Arts Practice (her dissertation explored the role of the community musician in the process of social regeneration), as well as Masters degrees in Community Music and Ritual Chant and Song. In 2008 she was invited by the Irish Chamber Orchestra to pilot Sing Out with Strings, a community music initiative in Limerick City, which now provides hundreds of children with free access to singing, songwriting and instrumental tuition. From 2008 to 2014, she continued as Community Engagement Manager for the Irish Chamber Orchestra, implementing a number of projects bringing live music into the classroom and community. Kathleen combines her educational work with a busy career as singer and songwriter, which included the release of her debut album, Like a Lion, in December 2019.

Marie Walshe trained with Dr. Veronica Dunne at DIT and was awarded The Silver Medal of Excellence at graduation. She subsequently received the Irish Philharmonic Society Scholarship to study in Siena, Italy. Marie’s operatic debut with Welsh National Opera was in New York, in the role of Mistress Quickly and her singing career has taken her throughout Ireland, Britain, Europe, Japan and America. Other roles include. Dorabella, ( Cosi Van Tutte) Carmen, Amneris, (Aida)Meg Page, (Falstaff) Florence Pike, (Albert Herring)  Maddelena (Rigoletto) Grimgerde (Die Walkure) 3rd Maid (Electra). Prince Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), Phoebe (The Yeoman of The Guard) and Valencienne (The Merry Widow). These roles were performed at Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, English National Opera, English Touring Opera, Birmingham Opera, Sadler’s Wells, Opera de Nantes, Opera Ireland, Opera Theatre Company, Opera South and Opera Cork.

Throughout Marie’s career she had the privilege of working with directors, Jim Sheridan, Peter Sheridan, Patrick Mason, Graham Vick CBE and Sir Peter Hall and conductors such as, Stephen Barlow, Carlo Rizzi, Sir Richard Armstrong, Sir Andrew Davis and Sir Charles Mac Kerras. Since returning to her native Limerick, Marie has spent her time in the development of a regimen of vocal and breathing exercises conducive to supporting the various genres in which she works, ie: Opera, Classical, Musical Theatre, Chant, Gospel and Traditional.

Trained at the prestigious Mountview Academy, Jean began her career in London’s West End, going from college straight into productions such as The Beautiful Game, Witches of Eastwick and Les Misérables. During that time, Jean worked with luminaries such as Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Ben Elton, Ian McShane, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Trevor Nunn and even appeared onstage alongside Dame Judi Dench. 

Now based in Limerick, Jean has developed her performance career alongside her work as a well-known teacher of the arts. She co-directed Bare Space Theatre Co. for a number of years, and has begun to make performance work as a producer and director. Jean’s sell-out production of her one-woman show Lily at the Belltable was followed by the hugely successful Cabaret des Frites at the Spiegeltent in 2014 and 2015. Her most recent show ‘Songs in Suits’ saw Jean giving her own unique female twist to a range of songs made famous by men down through the years.

Dr Kevin O’Carroll is a freelance choral conductor and conducting teacher. He has provided workshops for choirs all over Ireland, Scandinavia and the USA. His conducting credits include works from the Renaissance era through to world premier performances of new compositions.  He has worked on small scale choral works through to full scale orchestral choral works such as Brahms’ Requiem and the more modern Jubilate Deo by Dan Forrest. Kevin currently directs Madrigallery Chamber Choir, Notable Works Choir and Wexford Festival Singers. Along with his conducting and teaching work, Kevin is an examiner for the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Máire Keary-Scanlon holds a Master of Music Performance in Conducting from Trinity College and is well known in Irish musical circles as an accomplished vocal tutor and choral director. She has taught at the Irish World Academy for 6 years, focusing on vocal technique and vocal ensemble. She also conducts the Academy Choir. Máire directs a number of award-winning ensembles including Seoda Chamber Choir, Cantette Children’s Choir, Limerick Youth Choir and Limerick Chamber Choir. She was musical director of Limerick Musical Society for over 10 years and also composes for choirs.

Hollie has most recently been touring with Belinda King as lead vocalist on Seabourn Encore. Prior to this she toured America with Irish Harmony Group The Celtic Angels. In London, Hollie played the role of  Eponine in Les Miserables at The Queens Theatre London (West End). Originally from Limerick , Hollie first trained at Centre Stage Theatre school before moving to London to train at The London School Of Musical Theatre (2010-2011). Prior to her training, Hollie reached RTE’s televised finals of Fame The Musical (Shinawil Productions)RTE.

Steve is the founding member of seminal Irish bands Giveamanakick (“combines the ugliness of brute force with the beauty of invention, classic” Hot Press) and the Choice Music Prize nominated Windings (“melodies that will get you, every time, so pared down that you’ll find yourself being totally bowled over” The Irish Times). Named One of The Best Guitarists Working in Ireland Today by goldenplec.com in 2018, he has also worked extensively in Sound Design for Theatre, Dance Performance, and Film (“A cinematic original music score by Ryan complements the idiomatically relevant tones” The Irish Times). He has worked with artists such as Godknows, Denise Chaila, Post Punk Podge, Murli, Naive Ted, and also collaborated with Rusangano Family on their Choice Music Prize winning Album “Let The Dead Bury the Dead”. Steve is a graduate of the MA Community Music in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Arts Practice, exploring the significance of the roles of creative self expression and self preservation to the songwriting community musician in the field. He works with, and mentors young bands and musicians in his role as a tutor for Music Generation Limerick City (“We don’t give lessons, it’s down to creative self expression” Case Study; The Irish Times) and in a variety of specialised areas, such as youthwork, mental health, national schools, secondary schools, and 3^rd Level Education.

Ewa Zak-Dyndal is a tutor of Music Theory and Keyboard Skills. Alongside teaching at the Irish World Academy, Ewa teaches piano privately and is an active member of various musical events and ensembles. Ewa completed an MA degree at  the Irish World Academy in 2014-2015 and graduated with First Class Honours in Ritual Chant and Song. At this time she taught in the Maoin Cheoil an Chláir Music School in Co. Clare. She undertook her BA Music at Bristol University from October 2010 to 2014 where she was taught piano by Raymond Clarke, and Helen Reid.  From 2009 Ewa regularly performed in Somerset, England as a pianist and singer at Music Matters Concerts and worked with Hands on Music Centres Ltd as a piano teacher.

Eóin studied piano in the CIT Cork School of Music and holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Arts in Performance. As a vocalist Eóin has performed with groups such as Madrigal ’75, Voci Nuove, the UCD Choral Scholars and the Irish Youth Chamber Choir. As pianist he has most recently performed with Opera Workshop and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. He also served as Musical Director for the Carrigaline Choral Group and the Monfort College of Performing Arts. He teaches on the BA in Performing Arts in the Irish World Academy and the Masters in Classical String Performance.

Here students will develop core skills with one-to-one vocal classes, sight singing, conducting, theory and keyboard classes.

Here students will engage in ensemble work with in-house and visiting tutors and they will also have the opportunity to select collaborative performance ‘option’ classes in other folk, world and popular music and dance traditions.

Issues addressed in this module will be taken from current research engagements with the native Irish music and dance traditions. These will critically engage historical narratives, conceptual structuring and evolving identities of the traditions in question. Students will be introduced to concepts of research as a creative, scholarly practice.

In this class students are introduced to diverse music traditions from around the world, including, popular musics of West Africa, the court music of Indonesia, classical musics of India, folk and Celtic musics of Europe, classical music of the Arab Middle East, and traditional musics of Canada and America. Students deepen their knowledge of diverse repertoires and performance practices, develop their scholarly engagement with music and dance, gain a more global view of music and dance, and contextualise their own music and dance practices within the wider world of music and dance.

In addition to their core modules, each year students choose from a large number of elective modules in dance and music, and other subjects outside of the performing arts. These elective modules offer students the opportunity to enhance their educational experience, and broaden their artistic and academic horizons. Elective options vary from year to year but typically students can choose from  range of vocal and instrumental ensembles (from Academy choir to Irish traditional music ensemble), songwriting classes, lectures in country music, courses in choreography, North American percussive dance, Irish folklore and history, and various languages, including Irish.

Here students will develop core skills with one-to-one vocal classes, sight singing, conducting, theory and keyboard classes.

Here students will engage in ensemble work with in-house and visiting tutors and they will also have the opportunity to select collaborative performance ‘option’ classes in other folk, world and popular music and dance traditions.

This module explores Western Art music and dance practices in an academic and performative context, providing them with an insight into some of the diversity of music and dance practices within these traditions.

In this class students study various genres of popular music and dance. Students deepen their knowledge of diverse popular repertoires and performance practices, and deepen their knowledge of the role of popular culture in social, political, economic, cultural and artistic life. Students develop a critical view of popular music and dance, and contextualize their own music and dance practices within the wider, commercially mediated world of music and dance.

In addition to their core modules, each year students choose from a large number of elective modules in dance and music, and other subjects outside of the performing arts. These elective modules offer students the opportunity to enhance their educational experience, and broaden their artistic and academic horizons. Elective options vary from year to year but typically students can choose from  range of vocal and instrumental ensembles (from Academy choir to Irish traditional music ensemble), songwriting classes, lectures in country music, courses in choreography, North American percussive dance, Irish folklore and history, and various languages, including Irish.

Here students will develop core skills with one-to-one vocal classes, sight singing, conducting, theory and keyboard classes.

Here students will engage in ensemble work with in-house and visiting tutors and they will also have the opportunity to select collaborative performance ‘option’ classes in other folk, world and popular music and dance traditions.

This module introduces students to the interdisciplinary academic field of voice studies and its relevance to performance  practice and performance studies. It explores historical and cross-cultural perspectives on vocality, voice, vocal training and performance; and also examines the role that singing plays in community, ritual, social and political contexts. Students will engage with research methods relevant to the field of voice studies and will develop the skills necessary to critically engage with vocal performance in a creative, reflexive and contextualized way.

 This module will introduce students to professional audio and visual technologies relevant to performers in their field. The professional world around performance practice, performance education, media and other career paths open to students on this programme will be explored. Students will use such technologies in professional contexts generating project work out of the day-to-day life of the Academy, recording concerts, providing technical support to a wide range of performances and generating media appropriate to the world of performing arts.  Students in this module will learn practical technological applications relevant to their performance practice. Students will learn to use and manipulate PAs and lighting rigs, led by professionals in the field and applied in real-world situations. Students will also be introduced to media generating software such as Final-Cut Pro and Logic to produce high level audio and video outputs.

In addition to their core modules, each year students choose from a large number of elective modules in dance and music, and other subjects outside of the performing arts. These elective modules offer students the opportunity to enhance their educational experience, and broaden their artistic and academic horizons. Elective options vary from year to year but typically students can choose from  range of vocal and instrumental ensembles (from Academy choir to Irish traditional music ensemble), songwriting classes, lectures in country music, courses in choreography, North American percussive dance, Irish folklore and history, and various languages, including Irish.

Here students will develop core skills with one-to-one vocal classes, sight singing, conducting, theory and keyboard classes.

Here students will engage in ensemble work with in-house and visiting tutors and they will also have the opportunity to select collaborative performance ‘option’ classes in other folk, world and popular music and dance traditions.

This module introduces students to core knowledge on the vocal mechanism and its function in singing. In addition to this, students will critically engage with recent research on a variety of topics related to singing and the teaching of singing.

This module is designed to help competent musicians and dancers to come to an understanding of what it means to be involved in music and dance education contexts. There are three main components to this module :Music and Dance Curriculum studies, Professional Studies and School Based Work. The first priority is to help the development of expertise in a variety of educative situations. These range from classroom activities for various age groups and abilities to instrumental teaching, classroom teaching, ensemble, choral, band and orchestral rehearsals, and the passing on of music and dance. There is also an introduction to Community Music and Dance which involves the development of acquired skills in a community music and dance context and as community musicians and dancers.

In addition to their core modules, each year students choose from a large number of elective modules in dance and music, and other subjects outside of the performing arts. These elective modules offer students the opportunity to enhance their educational experience, and broaden their artistic and academic horizons. Elective options vary from year to year but typically students can choose from  range of vocal and instrumental ensembles (from Academy choir to Irish traditional music ensemble), songwriting classes, lectures in country music, courses in choreography, North American percussive dance, Irish folklore and history, and various languages, including Irish.

In their 3^rdyear, Irish World Academy performing arts students go on ‘co-op’, a university-wide module specifically designed for undergraduates to engage in real-world, professional environments.   The Cooperative Education division, in consultation with the Academy, helps students to identify working opportunities in a variety of contexts, including arts management, education, performance, media and related fields.  Students are encouraged to set up their own six-month placements or to engage in split placements (ideally no more than two placements) in order to explore if their expectations for future careers match the experiences they have during the co-op period.  Faculty visits, pre- and post- co-op assessment skills, and final report help students to reflect upon the process, enabling them to critically evaluate their time off campus.

Here students will develop core skills with one-to-one vocal classes, sight singing, conducting, theory and keyboard classes.

Here students will engage in ensemble work with in-house and visiting tutors and they will also have the opportunity to select collaborative performance ‘option’ classes in other folk, world and popular music and dance traditions.

This module is designed to enable music and dance students to develop awareness and understanding of the impact of the arts on health and well-being. The module aims to develop well-rounded music and dance graduates who are aware of the role of the arts in various contexts (such as hospital, community healthcare and mental health) and the impact of their own health and well-being on their own arts performance.

This module will introduce students to the important contextualising disciplines of ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology and their main principles and orientations as well as the practical application of fieldwork and the production of ethnographic representations.

In addition to their core modules, each year students choose from a large number of elective modules in dance and music, and other subjects outside of the performing arts. These elective modules offer students the opportunity to enhance their educational experience, and broaden their artistic and academic horizons. Elective options vary from year to year but typically students can choose from  range of vocal and instrumental ensembles (from Academy choir to Irish traditional music ensemble), songwriting classes, lectures in country music, courses in choreography, North American percussive dance, Irish folklore and history, and various languages, including Irish.

Here students will develop core skills with one-to-one vocal classes, sight singing, conducting, theory and keyboard classes.

Here students will engage in ensemble work with in-house and visiting tutors and they will also have the opportunity to select collaborative performance ‘option’ classes in other folk, world and popular music and dance traditions.

This module is intended students in the first semester of their fourth year, preparing to embark on an extended research project which will be presented in a 10,000 word thesis or equivalent. The student will agree on the subject of the project with the course director and will be introduced to a number of sample research projects and methodologies.

This module will examine issues pertinent to the lives of professional musicians and dancers. Issues such as promotion, effective communication, industry structures, touring, dealing with statutory arts bodies and funding structures will be practically engaged. Classes may feature professionals working in these fields and regularly faculty with relevant experience. This aspect of the module is supported by a lecture series and assessed through attendance and written assignments in the form of professional portfolios and resources.

In addition to their core modules, each year students choose from a large number of elective modules in dance and music, and other subjects outside of the performing arts. These elective modules offer students the opportunity to enhance their educational experience, and broaden their artistic and academic horizons. Elective options vary from year to year but typically students can choose from  range of vocal and instrumental ensembles (from Academy choir to Irish traditional music ensemble), songwriting classes, lectures in country music, courses in choreography, North American percussive dance, Irish folklore and history, and various languages, including Irish.

Here students will develop core skills with one-to-one vocal classes, sight singing, conducting, theory and keyboard classes.

Here students will engage in ensemble work with in-house and visiting tutors and they will also have the opportunity to select collaborative performance ‘option’ classes in other folk, world and popular music and dance traditions.

This is the second of the two Irish World Academy modules for the FYP. The student works in a one on one context with supervisor in this module while receiving certain skills training to enable them to fill out the structure of the FYP started in the previous semester. Students will produce their own unique piece of research in their chosen area and disciplinary approach.

This module will prepare students for the programming of their final performances, providing a critical and practical engagement with key resources, texts and contexts for curating and programming successful performance events Students will also study approaches to vocal arrangement.

In addition to their core modules, each year students choose from a large number of elective modules in dance and music, and other subjects outside of the performing arts. These elective modules offer students the opportunity to enhance their educational experience, and broaden their artistic and academic horizons. Elective options vary from year to year but typically students can choose from  range of vocal and instrumental ensembles (from Academy choir to Irish traditional music ensemble), songwriting classes, lectures in country music, courses in choreography, North American percussive dance, Irish folklore and history, and various languages, including Irish.