Activities

Teaching

Sinead currently works as a peripatetic upper strings teacher for Stoke-on Trent music service. She is committed to ensuring that each of her students develops a love and appreciation for all kinds of music. She also teaches violin and conducting privately in Manchester.

Irish Traditional Music

Sinead has always been very involved in both performing and teaching Irish traditional music. A multiple All Ireland Fleadh title holder in lilting (Irish mouth music), trios, ceili band and grupai ceoil, she is currently a member of the Tara O’Carolan Senior Ceili band Manchester. She also teaches the next generation of Irish traditional musicians (when she’s not conducting!) on Wednesday evenings at the Tara O’ Carolan branch and formerly specialised in teaching Irish fiddle to both adult beginners and classical players while she lived in London. As a performer Sinead has played at venues in the US, London (Return to Camden Town Festival) and Germany. She has a particular interest in the Donegal style of fiddle playing, having spent many summers playing music there in younger days, and is very influenced by the likes of James Byrne, Vincent Campbell, Johnny Doherty and Tommy Peoples. Sinead also plays the uilleann  pipes. For videos of Sinead playing (with her sister Nuala on flute) in Germany check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypPh_JeGoYM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Xb4xfK2ck&feature=related

Composition/Other Related Activity

Sinead studied instrumental and vocal composition with Prof. Rhian Samuel  and electroacoustic composition with Dr. Laurie Radford as part of her undergraduate degree at City University, where she had the opportunity to have some of her compositions workshopped and performed by members of London Sinfonietta. Prior to commencing her music degree, she also completed a composition course with David Owen at Goldsmiths University, London. In May 2007 Sinead was commissioned by Bedfordshire Council to compose a work to celebrate the opening of the Chiltern Gateway visitor centre on the Dunstable Downs – a building for which she completed the structural design while working for London engineering firm Techniker. The Chiltern Suite was premiered at the opening of the building, with the composer conducting. In December 2007 Sinead was commissioned by the Rosemary Branch Theatre Company to provide incidental music for a production of Shakespeare’s Tempest, which ran for a month in February 2008. The work involved electroacoustic elements and sound design.

In May 2009, Sinead was commissioned by the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester to prepare the performance edition of the vocal score of Offenbach’s La Belle Helene. She set the libretto of the new Jeremy Samms translation to the original French vocal score, overlaying the new English words by hand. The results are to be published by Weinberger publishers in the near future.