Sligo Feis Ceoil

VOCAL

IAN DARLING
Ian Darling was born in Edinburgh and studied at Lancaster University, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and also has an Open University and two research degrees. He completed his singing studies in London with the renowned teacher Audrey Langford.
He has appeared with many of the leading UK Choral Societies in a wide variety of repertoire. He made his Edinburgh Festival debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Neeme Jaervi in Mehul’s rarely performed opera Uthal and has also appeared with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble and Scottish Virtuosi. In recent years he has made a speciality of authentic performance and has appeared with many of the leading London original instrument specialists. He is particularly noted for his interpretation of the Bach Evangelists and has performed these parts, in the Christmas Oratorio and St. John and St Matthew Passions, throughout Britain.
Ian has appeared on BBC, Scottish and Grampian Television and recorded recitals for BBC radio. Foreign engagements have taken him to Italy, Ireland, Scandinavia and the United States where he sang at the British Embassy in Washington DC.
Operatic appearances have included the title roles in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and Rossini’s Count Ory, Admete in Gluck’s Alceste, Fenton in Vaughan Williams Sir John in Love, Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte and Lindoro in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri.
He is well known as a teacher of singing and is visiting teacher at the University of St Andrews. He is also an increasingly busy adjudicator at Music Festivals both as a general and singing specialist.

OFFICIAL VOCAL ACCOMPANIST
ELAINE BRENNAN was born in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan. She holds a first class honours degree in Music from Trinity College Dublin, received the Michael MacNamara medal for excellence in performance from the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and gained a Masters degree in Advanced Accompaniment from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. She was also made Broadwood Fellow of Accompaniment at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow.Teachers have included the celebrated accompanists Graham Johnson andMalcolm Martineau. She has worked in Masterclasses with exceptional musicians and singers including Dame Felicity Lott, Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Thea King and James Galway, amongst many others.Recent performances have included venues such as the National ConcertHall Dublin, Cork Opera House, St. Martin in the Fields London, Teatro Della Maestranza Seville, New York University and the Austrian CulturalForum New York, as well as live broadcasts on RTE Lyric fm, RTE Radio 1 and Deutsche Welle television . We are honoured that Elaine has taken time out from her busy schedule in Vienna to accompany our competitors in Sligo Feis Ceoil .

INSTRUMENTAL

JOHN FOSTER GNSM, LRAM, PGCE
John Foster studied piano with Kendall Taylor, at the Royal Northern College of Music. After graduating, he spent a post-graduate year at Manchester University, whilst continuing his studies with Kendall Taylor, and it was during this year that he gave his first professional solo recitals. In addition to solo work, John has performed extensively as accompanist with singers and instrumentalists, in chamber groups, including the Lydian Trio, and as official accompanist in national and international masterclasses. Although most of his recital work has been in the UK, he has performed in France, Germany, and Hong Kong, where has also given radio broadcasts. For sixteen years John was on the staff of the RNCM Junior College and for eighteen years was a Director of the St. Cecilia Music Trust. He is a grade and diploma examiner, trainer and moderator for ABRSM. He has also worked as a theory examiner, a member of the interview panel for new examiners, and a seminar presenter. His ABRSM activities have taken him to all parts of the UK and to Cyprus, Spain, Tenerife, Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, China, and USA.

OFFICAL INSTRUMENTAL ACCOMPANIST:
Niamh Crowley , B. Mus ( Hons ),P.G. Dip, ARCM,LGSMD,LCT

SPEECH

MAEVE O’DONOGHUE L.L.S.M.D, L.G.S.M.D.
Maeve trained as a scholarship student at the Brendan Smith Theatre Academy and at the Leinster School of Music and Drama in Dublin. She has Licentiates from both The Leinster School of Music and Drama and from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. She has been running VoiceWorks, her Speech and Drama School, in Dublin for many years and has prepared students for examination from Junior Grades right up to the Licentiate Teaching Diploma. Her students participate in Festivals throughout the year and showcase their work annually at the Draiocht Theatre in Blanchardstown. She is an examiner with the Leinster School of Music and Drama for over twenty five years, has adjudicated extensively in Ireland and since becoming an adjudicator for the British and International Federation of Festivals has also adjudicated in England . Maeve is delighted to adjudicate at Sligo Feis Ceoil and sincerely hopes that participation will be an enjoyable and positive experience for all competitors.

DRAMA

AUDREY BEHAN M.A., L.G.S.M., L.L.C.M. (T.D.)
Audrey is a native of Dublin and a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London and University College Dublin, where she was awarded an M.A. in Modern Theatre Studies and Performance Theory.
She began her career in Speech & Drama at the tender age of five years when she won 1st prize for Verse Speaking at Dublin’s Feis Maitiu! Her performance skills embrace theatre, musicals and film. For more than 30 years Audrey has taught all aspects of the work in private practice, and at Primary, Secondary and Third Level Education. She has worked extensively with teachers and her penchant for Shakespeare has brought her skills and expertise to practitioners and students from all over Ireland. She actively promoted the art of Choral Verse in schools and won many accolades for her work in this area. She runs a successful private practice where many of her students have pursued careers in the theatrical/education/media spheres.
An Adjudicator for more than twenty years, Audrey is a member of the British and International Federation of Adjudicators. She is Senior Speech & Drama Examiner with the Royal Irish Academy of Music and her work in these areas takes her the length and breadth of Ireland.

TRADITIONAL MUSIC

FIONA LAVIN BA Mus, Grad Dip Ed (Music), TTCT, MA (Ir Mus Performance)
Fiona Lavin grew up in Co. Mayo in the West of Ireland. She comes from a family who is steeped in Music. From an early age, Fiona began to play the tin-whistle, fiddle and piano. She is a music graduate from Waterford Institute of Technology and University of Limerick. Fiona is a qualified Secondary School teacher and holds a Masters degree in Music Performance. She was awarded the Teastas i dTeagasc Ceolta Tire diploma for teaching Irish Traditional Music at advanced level by Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann and the Department of Education and Science. Fiona adjudicates at Feiseanna and the New York Mid Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil plus County, Provincial and All Ireland Fleadhs. She enjoys teaching music at workshops throughout Ireland. Fiona has performance experience with many Irish traditional groups, string ensembles, orchestras and choirs.