Musici Ireland - Arvo Part Ensemble

Programme:

Arvo Part: Stabat Mater

Performers:

Musici Ireland is a women-led, socially engaged arts collective creating original, multidisciplinary work that blends music, theatre, dance, film, and spoken word. Founded in 2012 by violist and artistic director Beth McNinch, the ensemble has become a platform for bold collaboration across artistic genres, with a strong focus on amplifying underrepresented voices and addressing contemporary social issues.

Soprano Róisín O’Grady has performed in recital and oratorio throughout Ireland and specialises in the performance of early music. Róisín studied Music and Italian at University College, Cork and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in concert singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow. She received a First Class Hons. M.A. in Performance at the Cork School of Music in 2008. She was a member of and a soloist with the National Chamber Choir of Ireland for over two years. She performed with the choir throughout Ireland and toured Holland and The Lebanon. In 2011 they performed for US President Barack Obama in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day.

Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty has firmly established a reputation as a respected interpreter of both early and contemporary works, and she also has a busy schedule in mainstream opera and concert repertoire. She is an alumna of the RIAM, Dublin, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, and the Oper Frankfurt Young Artist programme. She is a Creative Associate on the Arts Council’s Creative Schools scheme, and as of 2025 is the Artistic Director of Sligo Baroque Music Festival. Her opera repertoire includes many of the important lyric and coloratura mezzo-soprano roles, and on the concert platform she has sung most of the major sacred concert works, including all the major works of Bach, as well as Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, and numerous chamber-music works. She is also a dedicated song recitalist, most recently appearing in song recitals with pianists Finghin Collins and Jonathan Ware. A champion of new music, recent highlights include the world premieres of several new works Silvia Colasanti’s opera, Proserpine at the Spoleto Festival, Deirdre Gribbin’s “The stones of life” and Anne Marie O’Farrells civil war cantata “Who’d ever think it would come to this”, as well as Dorabella for Irish National Opera in their recent production of Cosi fan tutte. 2024 saw the release of two CDs of the music of C.V.Stanford, and 2025 brings her role debut as Orlowsky in Irish National Opera’s Die Fledermaus, as well as a festival and role debut as Kate in Owen Wingrave at the Festivale della valle d’Itria, Martina Franca.

Irish tenor Eamonn Mulhall’s youthful presence and bright, agile voice place him ideally for Mozart’s, Handel’s, Donizetti’s and Rossini’s lyric tenor roles. He is also a highly accomplished baroque and classical oratorio soloist.

Future and recent engagements comprise Zweiter König in a new staging of Die Liebe der Danae at the Opera Carlo Felice of Genoa, his Teatro La Fenice debut as rev. Horace Adams in a new production of Britten’s Peter Grimes, Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin at the Dublin National Concert Hall, Hippolyte in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie with the Baroque Festival Orchestra of Krakow at the Krakow Congress Centre, Goro in Madama Butterfly at the Irish National Opera, the title role in the world premiere of Ľubica Čekovská’s Dorian Gray at the Slovak National Theatre of Bratislava and the Prague Spring Festival, his Wexford Festival debut as Le Jeune Syrien in Mariotte’s Salomé and Don Ramiro in La cenerentola, Acis in Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Jack in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Dublin Opera Theatre Company,  Britten’s Serenade at the Festival Musica sull’Acqua at Lake Como in Italy, Pong in Turandot at the Belfast Festival, the world premiere of Metcalf’s Under Milk Wood in Cardiff and Damon in Acis and Galatea for Mid Wales Opera.

Eamonn Mulhall studied Music and French Literature in Dublin before continuing his singing studies at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio in London.

Mia Cooper studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Yossi Zivoni, in her final year recording Bartok’s violin duos with him. She completed her studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, in the chamber music class of Michel Strauss.

After graduating Mia joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as principal first violin, at the same time participating in London’s varied freelance music scene. In demand as a guest leader she has worked as such with 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 this role she has worked alongside artists of the likes of Pavarotti to Kurt Elling, as well as performing as a soloist and director.

Mia joined the RIAM violin teaching faculty in 2006, and is in demand as an orchestral and chamber music tutor. She has given masterclasses within Ireland, in the UK, Spain and Lithuania.

Beth McNinch is an esteemed Irish violist, producer, educator, and artistic director, recently honoured as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for her outstanding contributions to the field. Known for her ability to craft compelling programmes that balance classical favourites with lesser-known gems, Beth is passionate about collaboration across artistic genres. This spirit of innovation is at the heart of her company, Musici Ireland, an acclaimed chamber collective and interdisciplinary production house.

Beth began her career in London after studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music. She quickly established herself as a prominent orchestral violist, performing with leading UK ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared in principal viola positions with the Irish National Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, English National Ballet, Ulster Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.

In the past couple of years, Beth has made her directorial debut with two major Musici Ireland productions: A Mother’s Voice, a multi-media performance honouring women affected by Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes, and Chronically Hopeful, an interdisciplinary work exploring themes of invisible disability through music, movement, and spoken word. Both projects exemplify Beth’s commitment to socially engaged art and creating space for underrepresented voices.

She is a core contributor to Improvising Across Boundaries, a four-year research project led by University College Dublin and the Improvised Music Company, which supports women and gender minority improvisers in Ireland. Her involvement in improvisation led to her participation in the 2023 “Icelandic Sessions” at the Við Djúpið Music Festival in Ísafjörður.

Beth plays on a rare cut-down Barak Norman viol, originally made in the 1650s and converted into a viola by Matthew Hardie in 1818. Her work has been supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Artlinks!, SEVN, and Creation Artists Residency.

Award-winning American cellist Katie Tertell is a performer and artistic curator, innovating how classical music is digested in modern times.  Katie is Artistic Director and Founder of the Appalachian Chamber Music Festival, headquartered in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, USA. She is also a member of the critically-acclaimed folk band Howay the Lasses as well as female-led chamber collective Musici Ireland and duo, Cello Power. Formerly a Tutti cellist of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, she enjoys a rich and varied experience as an artist in Europe and America.

Alongside work with internationally-recognized ensembles, Katie focuses her attention on projects that aim to connect people through meaningful experiences in music, working cross disciplinarily and in various sectors.  Notable projects include the “Lost in Plain Sight” project (exploring the life and legacy of Gaspar Cassadó), featured on NPR’s Morning Edition in 2023, “Cello Power: The Popper Project” featured in The Strad in 2022, and her cross-disciplinary work with councils and organisations in the North East of England to explore their local history through music including with Northumbria University, the National Trust, and the Discovery museum.

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