St Agnes' CCMA embodies community spirit and harnesses the innate abilities and potential that exist in all human communities to become active agents in their own development and to organise themselves to address key issues and concerns that they share. St Agnes' CCMA team bodies this definition above and all our volunteers and tutors have made this organisation a living positive entity in the Crumlin community.
Week by week volunteers from the local community help with dozens of varied tasks, which include the preparation of music folders and practice parts, setting up and clearing away after orchestra, fundraising with all the related work involved in event management, catering and working in the pop-
Darby Carroll, double bass & sound engineer, records for the Project, and keeps an eye on everything double bass, instruments and players.
Joanna Crooks came to Scoil Úna Naofa* as a volunteer Project Director to initiate St Agnes’ School Violin & Orchestra Project from a background in orchestral management with Dublin Youth Orchestras and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. She became a founder member of St Agnes’ Parents String Orchestra (now St Agnes' Community LSO) in 2010 when it began.
*formerly St Agnes’ Primary School
Joyce Donohoe, violin, leader of
SACLSO for several seasons. Volunteer music theory teacher to primary and secondary school students and adult players.
Rose Lyons is a founder member of the orchestra, and an invaluable volunteer both for the school based violin and orchestra project and the Parents Orchestra. She has made an important contribution to both public relations and fundraising.
Margaret McCabe is a founder member of the Orchestra, and Financial Officer (Hon). Her extraordinary commitment and her head for detail keeps track of Scoil Úna Naofa Violin & Orchestra Project, St Agnes’ Parents String Orchestra and St Agnes’ Musical Society.
Celine Carroll, an accomplished musician on piano and guitar with a number of CDs to her name. She volunteers as the piano accompanist for the St Agnes' Memory Lane Choir. She is totally dedicated to bringing joy into the lives of the participants in this choir. She is extremely talented and plays at functions in other venues and currently has composed a musical production with lyrics and music dedicated to those with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Shane Cavanagh, cellist, has BA
in Performance and a Masters in Music from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He has taught many of our late starters, and in particular emerging cellists in St Agnes’ Parents String Orchestra. Shane has been the regular cello professional with Scoil Úna Naofa Violin & Orchestra Project until June 2018 and staff member on summer camps.
Brendan Cullen has been playing piano and strings for nearly 30 years. His main instruments are piano, cello, guitar and double bass. He is also a conductor to a number of choirs in Dublin and Wicklow and has won a number of local and national competitions as well as performing with them for RTÉ and events at Áras an Uachtaráin. He enjoys playing across a wide variety of musical styles with particular emphasis on classical and jazz and plays regularly with groups in those styles.
Naoise Dack is a violinist conductor and tutor. He has a B. MEd from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Trinity College Dublin. He continues postgraduate studies at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. Naoise has performed with Camerata Ireland and recently took part in an orchestral scheme with BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Naoise studied conducting with Prof James Cavanagh and Gavin Maloney at RIAM.
Seamus Doyle is double bass tutor and conductor at the Scoil Úna Naofa Violin Project, and conductor of St. Agnes' Late Starters String Orchestra. After studying music at Waterford IT, and double bass with Patrick Kavanagh, Helmut Engemann and Prof Thomas Martin he took up a position in the RTÉ National Symphony of Ireland, before becoming Principal Double Bass in the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
Jennifer Grundulis Jennifer became Choral Director. She has performed in
several productions with the society including
Mother Abbess The Sound of Music, Bloody
Mary South Pacific 2015, Mrs Noye Noye's
Fludde 2016 and Golde Fiddler on the Roof 2017. An
American-born Speech and Language Therapist by day, Jennifer is the
proud musical director of Glór Gospel and the Move 4 Parkinson's
Voices of Hope Choir and soprano with the Kathryn Smith Singers.
Her many roles elsewhere include Narrator Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolour Dreamcoat, Joanne Godspell.
Tina Murphy loves traditional Irish music and teaching the concertina. She encourages learners to enjoy the process of learning. Tina's influences include Mary McNamara, Michael O'Reallaigh and Noel Hill. Tina is a member of the Kilteel Eadeastown Comhaltas since the 90s. She has competed in the Groupa Cheol competitions at the Leinster Fleadhs with Kilteel Eadeastown Comhatlas and in the All-Ireland Pleacatra twice achieving second place. Tina has played at the Mid-Summer Festival in Sweden. Tina also plays the clarinet, is a ceramic artist and sculpts in her spare time.
Gerry Noonan (Baritone) - Choral Director of St Agnes' Memory Lane Choir. Gerry is an award winning vocalist and very experienced and versatile performer. He has worked with several Musical Societies as well as with Lyric Opera, Anna Livia Opera, Cork Opera Works and Good Works Opera. Among the roles he has played over the years, are: Alcindoro, La Bohème; The Marchèse, La Traviata; Count Gil, Susanna’s Secret; Dr. Pandolfo, La Serva Padrona; David, A Hand of Bridge; Ben, The Telephone; Smirnov, The Bear; Noye (Noah), Noye’s Fludde; Danilo, The Merry Widow; The Red Shadow, The Desert Song; Eisenstein, Die Fledermaus and many many more.
Cillian O’Breacháin, tutor and St Agnes’ Chamber Orchestra director, holds a Masters in Music Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has also studied Baroque Violin with Huw Daniel, Traditional Fiddle with Alisdair McCullough and Conducting with Alasdair Mitchell. He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the RIAM. As a conductor, Cillian has Trinity Orchestra the Kirkos Ensemble, Offbeat Ensemble, Co-Orch., Wexford Gateway Orchestra, DYO Concert Orchestra, the RIAM Chamber Orchestra and Dublin Orchestral Players. As an orchestral violinist, Cillian has performed with many prestigious orchestras including the BBC Scottish SO, the RTÉ NSO.
Teresa Reddy
Teresa Reddy brings a wealth of experience having taught children from birth to school age with Leeson Park School of Music for over 25 years.
She is a firm believer in children’s early exposure to Music and Singing within a fun, playful and engaging group setting.
Kara Lord Bissett is a harpist and pianist from Dublin. She is currently in the final year of the Bachelor of Music degree at TU Dublin Conservatoire, studying under Professor Clíona Doris and Paula Hughes. During her degree, she has specialised in performance and pedagogy, and she has performed as a member of the TU Dublin Harp Ensemble and the TU Dublin Traditional Ensemble and a prizewinner at Feis Ceoil and at TU Dublin Conservatoire competitions. She has performed in masterclasses with Elinor Bennett at the Wales Harp Festival and with Jean Kelly as part of the National Concert Hall Masterclass Series.