Róisín Blunnie

Music Educators Tutor

Founder and Music Director of the Ulster Consort, Artistic Director of Gordonstoun 

Róisín Blunnie is Associate Professor of Music and Programme Chair of the M.A. in Choral Studies at Dublin City University. She conducts Dublin-based chamber choir Laetare Vocal Ensemble and the large undergraduate choir DCU Lumen Chorale.

She is a native of Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim, and studied Choral Conducting at the Liszt Academy-Kodály Institute in Hungary before completing her PhD at Trinity College in Dublin.

She was the DCU team lead for the recent EU-funded Erasmus+ project PRESTO, which created a suite of free digital learning resources for music (available at www.kodalyhub.com/presto), including ‘Developing Polyphonic Skills Using Canon Exercises’ for conductors, singers, and music teachers, and which won the Erasmus+ prix d’excellence.

Together with orchestral conductor Dr Ciarán Crilly (UCD) she is the editor of the book Perspectives on Conducting (Routledge 2024), featuring chapters on diverse aspects of the art and craft of conducting by distinguished Irish and international contributors.

Róisín founded Laetare Vocal Ensemble in 2014. The choir is active in concerts, festivals, collaborations, commissions, and recordings. Competition successes include the ‘Ireland’s Choir of the Year’ award, Schuman-Europe award and Contemporary Music Centre Trophy at the Cork International Choral Festival, 2nd prize and the special award to a conductor at the City of Derry International Choir Festival, and a Gold Diploma in the Grand Prix final of the Ave Verum International Choral Festival, Austria. The choir’s latest album is Ghost Songs: Contemporary Music and Words from Ireland (Divine Art Records), a 35-track collection of choral works interspersed with readings by some of Ireland’s leading literary voices. Róisín is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.