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Festival Artists
Ancór Choir
Ancór was founded in 2005 by conductor Cecilia Madden and so this year marks their 20th anniversary! The choir consists of approximately 30 members from a wide variety of backgrounds and nationalities but who all love to sing together. Ancór embraces a wide range of sacred and secular repertoire from the Renaissance to the 21st century and over the years they have collaborated with several ensembles and well-known vocal soloists including UL Orchestra, Irish Symphonic Wind Orchestra, Dublin City Jazz Orchestra, Limerick City Big Band and Limerick Sinfonia. Recent concert tours have included Sardinia (2024), Féile na Bealtaine in Dingle, Co Kerry (2019), Slovenia (2017), Italy (2014) and France (2012). In 2015, Ancór launched a 10th anniversary recording Sing Joyfully and they will be recording a Christmas album to celebrate their 20th anniversary and this will be available in Autumn 2025. As Choir-in-Residence at Limerick School of Music, Ancór is now mentoring the choral students at LSOM and we are delighted to have them perform with us here this evening. Ancór has performed many works by JS Bach, and the choir has become an annual fixture on the LEMF calendar with a focus on the sacred cantatas of JS Bach and the sacred music lineage before and after, all in partnership with local, national and international musical partners. On 12th April next, Ancór and LSOM Senior Choir will appear with Limerick Choral Union in UCH at their Easter concert.
Sagittarius Hiberniensis
Peter Barley
Peter Barley is Organist and Choirmaster of Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick. He is also on staff at Limerick School of Music, where he teaches piano and organ and is a staff accompanist. Peter was previously Organist at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, from where he holds the title of Organist Emeritus. Peter began his career in London, where he was Director of Music at St Marylebone Church, as well as regularly accompanying the Corydon Singers, the London Concert Choir, and Canticum. The foundations for his interest in choral, organ and sacred music were laid through studies at King’s College, Cambridge (where he was an organ scholar) and at the Royal Academy of Music, London. As an organist, Peter has performed at many UK venues, including St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and Bridgewater Hall. He has also played at most of the main Irish recital venues, and in all the regular ‘noon-hour’ organ recital series in Toronto, Canada. A former Director of the Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy, Peter also spent six years as Chair of RSCM Ireland. He is now closely involved in the Limerick Pipe Organ Festival. He directs the choirs of Sagittarius Hiberniensis and Saint Mary’s Cathedral.
Cecilia Madden
Cecilia Madden first studied music (piano, oboe, recorder and theory) at Limerick School of Music and then continued her studies at Trinity College Dublin where she read for the degrees of B.A. in Music & History and the M. Phil. in Reformation & Enlightenment Studies, while concurrently studying Oboe with Albert Soliveres at the D.I.T. (now T.U. Dublin) Conservatoire of Music. During her time at TCD, Cecilia was awarded the Taylor Exhibition and an Entrance Exhibition and she conducted the Trinity Orchestra and the Trinity Chapel Choir with which she also sang as Choral Scholar. Cecilia’s first professional conducting post was as Director of Music at St Ann’s Church, Dawson St, Dublin. At this time, Cecilia participated in many conducting masterclasses including at Westminster Choir College (Princeton, New Jersey); with the European Academy of Young Choral Conductors (Timmendorf, Germany); at the Civico Liceo Musicale (Verase, Italy) and with the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland before taking up a place as a guest student at the Hochschule für Musik (UdK) Berlin.
Cecilia studied Post-Primary teaching at the University of Limerick and was later awarded a Post-Grad. Dip. in Educational Leadership & Management from NUI Maynooth. She taught in the Ursuline School in Waterford and then with Ardscoil Mhuire in Limerick before being appointed to LSOM as Deputy Principal in 2014. As well as her ongoing conducting work with Ancór and the choirs at the Limerick School of Music, she has also recently been a guest conductor with Limerick Sinfonia and Limerick Philharmonic Orchestra. Cecilia is now Principal of LSOM, having been appointed to this role in 2022. She has a particular interest in vocal and instrumental music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods and is delighted to be part of the LEMF festival, both as performer and educational partner.
Cecilia studied Post-Primary teaching at the University of Limerick and was later awarded a Post-Grad. Dip. in Educational Leadership & Management from NUI Maynooth. She taught in the Ursuline School in Waterford and then with Ardscoil Mhuire in Limerick before being appointed to LSOM as Deputy Principal in 2014. As well as her ongoing conducting work with Ancór and the choirs at the Limerick School of Music, she has also recently been a guest conductor with Limerick Sinfonia and Limerick Philharmonic Orchestra. Cecilia is now Principal of LSOM, having been appointed to this role in 2022. She has a particular interest in vocal and instrumental music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods and is delighted to be part of the LEMF festival, both as performer and educational partner.
Aisling Kenny
Soprano Aisling Kenny is a versatile soloist, recitalist, and ensemble singer, performing a wide range of sacred and chamber works from the Baroque and Classical eras. Aisling has performed as a soloist with leading Irish and European ensembles, including Collegium Vocale Gent, Irish Baroque Orchestra and Resurgam. Selected performances include Johannespassion at Thüringer Bachwochen and BWV 73 at Bachfest Leipzig with Collegium Vocale Gent under Philippe Herreweghe, Spirit and Second Witch in Dido and Aeneas with Collegium Vocale Gent and Ricercar Consort under Philippe Pierlot at Le Rivage des Voix festival, and several projects with the Irish Baroque Orchestra directed by Peter Whelan.
As a dedicated recitalist, performances include a programme of songs by women composers at the University of California Irvine with pianist Lorna Griffitt, Dowland’s lute songs with Thomas Dunford in Paris and Kilkenny, and numerous collaborations with historical harpist Siobhán Armstrong.
As a dedicated recitalist, performances include a programme of songs by women composers at the University of California Irvine with pianist Lorna Griffitt, Dowland’s lute songs with Thomas Dunford in Paris and Kilkenny, and numerous collaborations with historical harpist Siobhán Armstrong.
Sarah Thursfield
Sarah Thursfield is a mezzo-soprano originally from Dublin, Ireland. A student of late Dutch soprano Judith Mok, her recent solo performances include Stanford’s Stabat mater and Buckley’s Lament for Art O’Leary with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Fennessy’s Blood with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Elgar’s The Light of Life, Duruflé’s Requiem, Bach’s St John Passion, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Mass in B minor, Cousser’s The Universal Applause of Mount Parnassus, and most recently, Handel’s Messiah with Chamber Choir Ireland and the Irish Baroque Orchestra under Peter Whelan.
Sarah is an experienced choral musician and is a member of ensembles such as Chamber Choir Ireland, Sestina Music and Resurgam. She also recently had the pleasure of being appointed as the first female Lay Vicar at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, where she currently holds the post of Vicar of the Prebendary of Swords.
Sarah is an experienced choral musician and is a member of ensembles such as Chamber Choir Ireland, Sestina Music and Resurgam. She also recently had the pleasure of being appointed as the first female Lay Vicar at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, where she currently holds the post of Vicar of the Prebendary of Swords.
Christopher Bowen
Christopher Bowen studied singing alongside medicine in New Zealand. While in London he was a member of the BBC Singers and after moving to Dublin in 2020 was soon immersed in the Irish classical music scene.
He was tenor evangelist in Bach’s Johannespassion and Weihnachtsoratorium with the Academy of Ancient Music, sang Handel’s Solomon at the Dublin Handel Festival and was evangelist for A Patchwork Passion at the BBC Proms.
On the opera stage he created the role of James Joyce in Old Ghosts for Irish National Opera. He played Bill in Flight and the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland for Opera Collective Ireland. He was First Jew in Salome, Fr. Brendan in The Ballybruff Trilogy and Samuel Beckett in Blue Electric. His diverse concert appearances include Britten's Serenade with the Hibernian Orchestra, a world premiere of Ina Boyle's Lament for Bion with conTempo Quartet, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and Britten’s War Requiem.
Christopher’s recordings include Lyell Cresswell songcycles, Purcell duets for The Hibernian Muse, Vaughan Williams’ A Cambridge Mass, Delius’ Song of the High Hills and Janácek’s Excursions of Mr Broucek as well as recordings with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Monteverdi Choir, BBC Singers and I Fagiolini.
He was tenor evangelist in Bach’s Johannespassion and Weihnachtsoratorium with the Academy of Ancient Music, sang Handel’s Solomon at the Dublin Handel Festival and was evangelist for A Patchwork Passion at the BBC Proms.
On the opera stage he created the role of James Joyce in Old Ghosts for Irish National Opera. He played Bill in Flight and the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland for Opera Collective Ireland. He was First Jew in Salome, Fr. Brendan in The Ballybruff Trilogy and Samuel Beckett in Blue Electric. His diverse concert appearances include Britten's Serenade with the Hibernian Orchestra, a world premiere of Ina Boyle's Lament for Bion with conTempo Quartet, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and Britten’s War Requiem.
Christopher’s recordings include Lyell Cresswell songcycles, Purcell duets for The Hibernian Muse, Vaughan Williams’ A Cambridge Mass, Delius’ Song of the High Hills and Janácek’s Excursions of Mr Broucek as well as recordings with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Monteverdi Choir, BBC Singers and I Fagiolini.
William Gaunt
William Gaunt was born in Yorkshire and received his early musical education there as a chorister at Ripon Cathedral. Following a choral scholarship to King’s College, Cambridge, he began his professional career in the choir of Christ Church, Oxford, before spending 17 years at Westminster Cathedral. Since 2021 he and his family have been resident in Ireland. William performs much of the core oratorio and concert repertory. Performances have included Carissimi Historia di Abraham et Isaac and Jephte; Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610; Bach Johannes-Passion, Matthäus-Passion, Mass in B Minor, Magnificat; Handel Messiah, Acis and Galatea, Judas Maccabaeus, Brockes-Passion and Samson; Haydn Creation, Stabat Mater and Nelson Mass; Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater; Mendelssohn St Paul; Fauré Requiem; Stravinsky Les Noces; Tippett A Child of Our Time; Pärt Passio. He has appeared with the Gabrieli Consort/McCreesh; the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge/Cleobury; the Choir of Christ Church, Oxford/Darlington; Dunedin Consort/Butt; Arcangelo/Cohen; Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht/Leertouwer; Portland Baroque Orchestra/Earley; Chamber Choir Ireland, Ars Nova Copenhagen and Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir/Hillier; Orchester Wiener Akademie/Haselböck; Ulster Orchestra/Brophy; Freiburger Barockorchester/Kristian Bezuidenhout. On stage he recently created the role of Homer in Irish National Opera’s premiere production of Evangelia Rigaki’s work, Old Ghosts. William’s solo recordings include Blow Odes and Handel Chandos Anthems with Arcangelo/Cohen; Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 with both the OAE/Howarth and the Dunedin Consort/Butt; Fauré Requiem with the LSO Chamber Ensemble/Short; Handel Messiah with Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht/Leertouwer; Bach Matthäus-Passion with the AAM/Cleobury.
Kevin Meehan
Kevin Meehan is an honours B. Mus graduate at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where he studied baroque and modern violin. Amongst his many baroque violin performances, Kevin performed as soloist with the IYBO in Croatia and was invited twice to the UK to perform on the world-renowned Cobbe Collection of authentic period instruments. In 2023, Kevin founded the Fantasia Baroque Festival at RIAM, and that summer, performed at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival with his baroque quartet and was delighted to be invited for a second performance in 2024. Kevin’s most recent solo performance was Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Irish Baroque Orchestra Apprentices. He is currently preparing for his Masters Degree in baroque violin performance in Europe.
Anna Jane Ryan
Anna Jane Ryan began her musical tuition at Limerick School of Music where she studied violin. As a student there, she won many awards, including the first Limerick City Council instrumental Féile Bursary and Bonn Peadar O’ Cillin for achieving the highest result in the country in the Leaving Certificate Music examination.
She continued her studies in MTU Cork School of Music, where she graduated with a first-class honours B.Mus. degree. In 2010 she received her MA in performance (violin), also from MTU Cork School of Music, under the tutelage of Cornelia Zanidache.
Anna Jane Ryan has a diverse career, performing in orchestras, chamber ensembles, recording projects and teaching in Limerick School of Music. Anna Jane plays traditional music and has won various competitions in Fleadh Ceoil including the Senior Fiddle Slow Air competition in Fleadh Ceoil na hEireann. She also has a keen interest in conducting and arranging music.
Anna Jane was appointed deputy principal at Limerick School of Music in 2022.
She continued her studies in MTU Cork School of Music, where she graduated with a first-class honours B.Mus. degree. In 2010 she received her MA in performance (violin), also from MTU Cork School of Music, under the tutelage of Cornelia Zanidache.
Anna Jane Ryan has a diverse career, performing in orchestras, chamber ensembles, recording projects and teaching in Limerick School of Music. Anna Jane plays traditional music and has won various competitions in Fleadh Ceoil including the Senior Fiddle Slow Air competition in Fleadh Ceoil na hEireann. She also has a keen interest in conducting and arranging music.
Anna Jane was appointed deputy principal at Limerick School of Music in 2022.
Annina Ahola
Annina Ahola is a Finnish violinist who has been based in Ireland for many years. She is experienced and accomplished as a soloist, as well as an orchestral and chamber musician, in Ireland and internationally. She completed her secondary education at the well-known Sibelius-lukio in Helsinki, and later studied violin at DIT Conservatory of Music. In addition to her work as a performing musician, Annina has a PhD in Music from UCD and lectures frequently on music. Throughout the years she has been generously funded by scholarships from the Finnish Cultural Foundation, UCD, the Irish Department of Education, and the Finnish Department of Education. She currently teaches violin at Limerick School of Music.
Mark Cooney
Mark Cooney is an oboist, plays cor anglais, and is a traditional Irish instrumentalist from Detroit, Michigan (USA).
Mr. Cooney received his BA in oboe performance from Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan, as
well participated in their Orchestral Studies post graduate programme. He is a recipient of the Evangeline Dumesnil scholarship, the Harry Begian Award in Musical Excellence, Star of Delta Omicron Music fraternity,
and has performed with various ensembles in the Detroit area including The Michigan Philharmonic,
International Symphony of Sarnia, Detroit Civic Symphony, Ann Arbor Chamber Players, and the Detroit Camerata, as well as having participated in the American Youth International Orchestra where he toured Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands with one of America’s leading young persons orchestra. Mr. Cooney also earned a Master’s Degree in Irish Music Studies from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance where he graduated with honours. Currently living in Limerick, Mr. Cooney has performed in many ensembles in Ireland, such as the Limerick Early Music Festival Orchestra, Limerick Philharmonic Orchestra, Limerick Choral Union Orchestra, Irish Symphonic Wind Orchestra, University of Limerick Orchestra, the Adult Irish Youth Orchestra, the Esker Festival Orchestra, Wexford Sinfonia, and the
Hibernian Orchestra of Dublin. He was also invited to give an oboe masterclass at the Limerick School of
Music. His primary teachers on the oboe and cor anglais were Brian Ventura (Detroit Symphony Orchestra), Dr. Eldonna May, Stephanie Shapiro (Wayne State University), and Timothy Michling (Ann Arbor Symphony).
Mr. Cooney received his BA in oboe performance from Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan, as
well participated in their Orchestral Studies post graduate programme. He is a recipient of the Evangeline Dumesnil scholarship, the Harry Begian Award in Musical Excellence, Star of Delta Omicron Music fraternity,
and has performed with various ensembles in the Detroit area including The Michigan Philharmonic,
International Symphony of Sarnia, Detroit Civic Symphony, Ann Arbor Chamber Players, and the Detroit Camerata, as well as having participated in the American Youth International Orchestra where he toured Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands with one of America’s leading young persons orchestra. Mr. Cooney also earned a Master’s Degree in Irish Music Studies from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance where he graduated with honours. Currently living in Limerick, Mr. Cooney has performed in many ensembles in Ireland, such as the Limerick Early Music Festival Orchestra, Limerick Philharmonic Orchestra, Limerick Choral Union Orchestra, Irish Symphonic Wind Orchestra, University of Limerick Orchestra, the Adult Irish Youth Orchestra, the Esker Festival Orchestra, Wexford Sinfonia, and the
Hibernian Orchestra of Dublin. He was also invited to give an oboe masterclass at the Limerick School of
Music. His primary teachers on the oboe and cor anglais were Brian Ventura (Detroit Symphony Orchestra), Dr. Eldonna May, Stephanie Shapiro (Wayne State University), and Timothy Michling (Ann Arbor Symphony).
Etain McCooey
Etain is an oboist, cor anglais and tinwhistle player. She trained under Helmut Seeber and through master classes with Ray Still. Etain plays with the Irish Memory Orchestra, world music trio ‘Jaskane’ and works as a session musician.
She has performed in South Korea, Denmark, Moscow and London as well as throughout Ireland. Etain was commissioned to compose music for the Hidden History TV series and continues to compose new music for the trio ‘Jaskane’. She recently released ‘Wildlands’ original trad style music on oboe and cor anglais inspired by the wildlife and landscape around Doolin, Co Clare.
Etain has created music workshops for children based on her children’s book ‘Deefer’s Day Out’ incorporating the story, newly composed music and songs for the characters, which have been performed in Clare and Limerick. She teaches oboe at Clare Music Makers and holds an MA in Community Music from University of Limerick.
She has performed in South Korea, Denmark, Moscow and London as well as throughout Ireland. Etain was commissioned to compose music for the Hidden History TV series and continues to compose new music for the trio ‘Jaskane’. She recently released ‘Wildlands’ original trad style music on oboe and cor anglais inspired by the wildlife and landscape around Doolin, Co Clare.
Etain has created music workshops for children based on her children’s book ‘Deefer’s Day Out’ incorporating the story, newly composed music and songs for the characters, which have been performed in Clare and Limerick. She teaches oboe at Clare Music Makers and holds an MA in Community Music from University of Limerick.
Kaito Rodrigues
Kaito Rodrigues is a Brazilian violist and arranger, now based in Limerick. Mainly classically trained, he has performed in orchestras and small ensembles throughout different cities in Brazil. As an arranger, his works also include popular Brazilian songs and classical Latin composers performed by string ensembles, voice and percussion. Kaito recently graduated with an MA in Classical String Performance (violin) from the University of Limerick, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. He continues to perform with a variety of styles, including early music (including vielle), jazz, and traditional music from both Ireland and Brazil.
Jacob Butler
Jacob Butler has been playing double bass since the age of nine. He studied under David Whitla in the Cork School of Music and has frequently played with groups such as the CSM Symphony Orchestra and the UL Orchestra. At the age of sixteen he toured around Europe with the Welsh Youth Orchestra, the Irish Youth Orchestra and the Ulster Youth Orchestra. In addition to double bass, Jacob is also a keen chorister and singer. He has sung with groups such as the Irish Youth Choir and the Sagittarius Hiberniensis Choir and has also performed in musical theatre since the age of four.
Sarah Groser
Sarah Groser first played the viola da gamba as a child, encouraged by her viol-playing father, whilst waiting to start on the cello. She concentrated on the cello until her late teens when she heard viols playing in consort and was captivated by the sound. At Manchester University she was able to study both Baroque cello and viol with Charles Medlam of London Baroque and continued on to Rotterdams Conservatorium to study Baroque cello with Jaap ter Linden. Later she had lessons with Jordi Savall as an external student at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Since her studies, Sarah has concentrated on the viol, and more recently the violone. She was a member of the Rose Consort of Viols for fifteen years and of Sonnerie under Monica Huggett for three years. She has also played with London Baroque, Fretwork, Charivari Agréable, and the Dowland Consort. In 2001 Sarah moved from England to West Cork, Ireland, where she is in frequent demand as both a solo bass viol player and as a continuo player. In Ireland, she has collaborated with The Irish Baroque Orchestra, the IBO Concert Soloists, Sestina, Camerata Kilkenny, Morisca, The Orchestra of St Cecilia, Madrigal 75, and as a duo with Sarah Cunningham. She performs regularly with Yonit Kosovske on repertoire spanning the early Baroque through Contemporary.
Rose Minnema
Rose Minnema is a puppet builder who mainly employs natural materials and recycled fabric, aiming for a natural, simple, organic flow of puppet creations. In the workshops which Rose facilitates, she engages participants as much as possible in all aspects of the puppet-making process and inspires participants—children and adults alike—to use their creativity to the fullest. Puppets are an excellent medium through which to express many ideas and emotions in a wide variety of settings. A longtime supporter and frequent attendee of the Limerick Early Music Festival, Rose is thrilled to bring her talents in puppetmaking to bring to life this unique aspect of an early time period.
Classicalkids.ie
Classicalkids.ie was founded in 2013 by Aura Stone and Sylvia Roberts, to make live chamber music accessible to children and babies. We curate live classical music concerts for adults and children in relaxed, accessible community settings.
Beginning with one venue we are now in five venues across Dublin and Wicklow,
and partner with the National Concert Hall Learning and Participation to deliver their Bring Along a Baby series.
Our Music for Babies series run monthly in all our venues and expose babies and adults to high quality chamber music, a baby friendly environment facilitating
maximum engagement and interaction.
Interactive Kids Concerts run bi-monthly in Dublin and focus on the toddler/
preschooler, developing basic musical skills in a fun and engaging environment.
We partner with County Council libraries to deliver these workshops to diverse
communities across Ireland and have recently completed a mini residency with County Monaghan Libraries.
Beginning with one venue we are now in five venues across Dublin and Wicklow,
and partner with the National Concert Hall Learning and Participation to deliver their Bring Along a Baby series.
Our Music for Babies series run monthly in all our venues and expose babies and adults to high quality chamber music, a baby friendly environment facilitating
maximum engagement and interaction.
Interactive Kids Concerts run bi-monthly in Dublin and focus on the toddler/
preschooler, developing basic musical skills in a fun and engaging environment.
We partner with County Council libraries to deliver these workshops to diverse
communities across Ireland and have recently completed a mini residency with County Monaghan Libraries.
Aura Stone
Born in Yorkshire, England, Aura took up the double bass aged 9. After winning a scholarship to study with Thomas Martin at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she relocated to Dublin to join the National Symphony Orchestra. After leaving the NSO, she now enjoys the variety and diversity of a freelance career, performing with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, RTE Concert Orchestra, and Wexford Festival Orchestra. With a keen interest in chamber music, Aura has performed all of the major chamber works that include the double bass. A committed teacher and educator, Aura currently teaches in the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She is a firm believer in the value and importance of live classical music for all. Looking for a way to bring music to young children, in 2013 she co-founded classicalkids. Beginning in Dublin, it rapidly expanded to include regular concerts in Kildare, Cork and Kerry, and successfully partners with the National Concert Hall, Castletown House and Kinsale Arts Weekend. Aura is mum to Jake and Maya.
Leonie Curtin
Originally from Cork, Leonie Curtin graduated from the Guildhall School of Music London in 1998 and completed a Masters Degree in Performance at the University of Illinois in the USA in 2000. On returning to Ireland Leonie took up a teaching position at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she taught for eight years. She was also the Director of Junior Strings from 2001-2004. Leonie has played regularly with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Ulster Orchestra, Opera Theatre Company, Crash Ensemble and VOX21. She, with cellist Kate Ellis, also set up the Bridgewood Ensemble, a New Music group, which performed in countries including America and South Africa. Leonie moved to London in 2004. While there, as well as teaching at Junior Guildhall from 2005 to 2011, Leonie concentrated on Early Music. She now performs with groups such as the Irish Baroque Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, La Serenissima, the New London Consort, the Gabrieli Consort, the Dunedin Ensemble and Classical Opera Company. Leonie returned to live in Cork in 2020.
Dr Sabine Egger
Sabine Egger (MA, Cologne; PhD, HU Berlin) is Associate Professor in German Studies at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick. She is Joint Director of the Irish Centre for Transnational Studies and member of the Royal Irish Academy Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication Committee. Having published widely on memory, transnationalism and the literary canon, her current research focuses on physical movement and intermediality, with a specific interest in post-Soviet discourses. Publications include her monograph Dialog mit dem Fremden. Erinnerung an den ‘Europäischen Osten’ in der Lyrik Johannes Bobrowskis (K&N, 2009), co-edited journal issues and volumes, such as Polish-Irish Encounters in the New and Old Europe (Lang, 2011), Connections in Motion: Dance and Modernism in Irish and German Literature and Culture (Lexington, 2019), and Sarmatia – Germania Slavica – Central Europe (V&R 2021), as well as a recent article on “Contemporary Ukrainian writers as an ‘avant-garde’ of exile in the German literary field” in Oxford German Studies 52.3 (2023). For further projects and publications visit link below.
Dr Ailbhe Kenny
Dr Ailbhe Kenny is an Associate Professor of Music Education at Mary Immaculate College, Ireland. She is author of Communities of Musical Practice (2016), co-editor of Musician-Teacher Collaborations: Altering the Chord (2018) and Sonic Signatures: Music, Migration and the City at Night (2023). Her new monograph Music Refuge: Living Asylum Through Music is due to be published with Oxford University Press in the coming months. Ailbhe is an Irish Research Council Laureate, Fulbright Scholar, EURIAS fellow, and holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. She has led both large-scale Irish and European research projects as well as being actively involved in community projects which includes directing the MIC Children's Choir and working with those seeking asylum. Ailbhe also sings with the Ancór Chamber Choir.
Eoin Callery
Galeon Ensemble (Snezhana Rybalska & Vsevolod Sadovyi)
Snezhana Rybalska, (Galician bagpipes, cornemus de beri, fiddle, flutes)
the founder and permanent member of the medieval theater Musica Radicum. From 2002 researches early music and street theater in Vyborg Castle. Together with Musica Radicum, she staged the medieval plays "Life of St. Olaf" in 2003, "Knight Olaf and the Queen of Elves" in 2004, "Tamlin" and "Sir Galevin" in 2005. In 2007, they recorded the album Worlde Blis Ne Laste in Lviv. She studied the traditional music of Europe, participated in the SKM (early peasants music) ensemble.
In 2015, moved to Lviv and joined the Lviv Music Guild.
Vsevolod Sadovyi, (tabor-pipe, tarotta, percussion)
Musician and researcher from Lviv.
Since 2001, he has been a member of many ensembles and projects in the genres of alternative and electronic music. Since 2004, he has been exploring the heritage of early and traditional music of Europe with the projects of the ensembles Minstrels Leopolita, Ground Folk, Vita Nova, Gardarica, Laterna Magica, Vita Norda, Lemko Bluegrass Band, Kurbasy. 2014 co-founded Lviv Music Guild.
Since 2015, Vsevolod together with Snezhana founded the Galeon ensemble, which in a pied and eclectic manner intertwines the roots of aesthetics and the lives of musicians. Medieval codex and danceries of the European Renaissance in the strong sound of reeds and percussion, post-modernly combine Nordic cold restraint with the cheerful dialects of Iberian Galicia and the nobility of Galicia Sarmatian. Heirs of wandering jugglers, forerunners of the parade Alta Capellas, travelers of cities, cultures and epochs, Galeon arrived this year in the welcoming and colorful port of Limerick.
the founder and permanent member of the medieval theater Musica Radicum. From 2002 researches early music and street theater in Vyborg Castle. Together with Musica Radicum, she staged the medieval plays "Life of St. Olaf" in 2003, "Knight Olaf and the Queen of Elves" in 2004, "Tamlin" and "Sir Galevin" in 2005. In 2007, they recorded the album Worlde Blis Ne Laste in Lviv. She studied the traditional music of Europe, participated in the SKM (early peasants music) ensemble.
In 2015, moved to Lviv and joined the Lviv Music Guild.
Vsevolod Sadovyi, (tabor-pipe, tarotta, percussion)
Musician and researcher from Lviv.
Since 2001, he has been a member of many ensembles and projects in the genres of alternative and electronic music. Since 2004, he has been exploring the heritage of early and traditional music of Europe with the projects of the ensembles Minstrels Leopolita, Ground Folk, Vita Nova, Gardarica, Laterna Magica, Vita Norda, Lemko Bluegrass Band, Kurbasy. 2014 co-founded Lviv Music Guild.
Since 2015, Vsevolod together with Snezhana founded the Galeon ensemble, which in a pied and eclectic manner intertwines the roots of aesthetics and the lives of musicians. Medieval codex and danceries of the European Renaissance in the strong sound of reeds and percussion, post-modernly combine Nordic cold restraint with the cheerful dialects of Iberian Galicia and the nobility of Galicia Sarmatian. Heirs of wandering jugglers, forerunners of the parade Alta Capellas, travelers of cities, cultures and epochs, Galeon arrived this year in the welcoming and colorful port of Limerick.
Wolodymyr Smishkewych
Wolodymyr "Vlad" Smishkewych enjoys a career as a tenor vocalist specialising in early and contemporary music, sharing the stage with some of the main names in early music and folk, including Carlos Nuñez, Jordi Savall and Hesperion XXI, Sequentia, Theatre of Voices, and The Harp Consort. He has recorded for Sony/BMG, Harmonia Mundi, and Naxos Records. No stranger to the academic realm, he holds a doctorate from Indiana University, and is the former director of the MA programme in Chant at the University of Limerick, Ireland, where he taught until 2014. However, his passion for writing and creating media about music and culture goes back to 2006, when he was a Fulbright Fellow to Spain, after which he began writing programmes for National Public Radio (USA). After his time in academia, Vlad returned to performing and the world of broadcasting, joining Ireland’s RTÉ lyric fm as well as the European Early Music Network, as radio announcer and producer. He is best known to Irish radio listeners as the host and researcher of Vox Nostra, RTÉ lyric fm’s Sunday morning Early Music show. Vlad is co-director of the Limerick Early Music Festival and the H.I.P.S.T.E.R. series. Vlad gratefully acknowledges the support of Arts Council Ireland through the Artist’s Agility Award.
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