Irish Youth Choir (14-17 Years)

 Ross Scanlon has enjoyed a diverse career on both the Operatic and Concert stage and in recent years has become a highly sought after singing teacher specialising particularly in the genre of Musical Theatre.

He is currently a member of the Vocal Faculty at The Lir Academy, Trinity College, Dublin and MTU Cork School of Music on the Musical Theatre Course. Ross has worked closely with Dublin Youth Choir as Associate Teaching Artist. In addition, he serves on the Board of Examiners for the Royal Irish Academy of Music and runs his own private voice studio in his home town of Bray, Co Wicklow.

For the past number of years, Ross has been vocal coach and sectional leader for Sing Ireland's ‘Irish Youth Training Choir’ Summer Intensive Course and is also facilitator for their successful ‘Sing for Life’ programme which won the prestigious Business to Arts Awards in 2024. He is currently vocal consultant for the Dublin Gay Men’s Choir, vocal coach to National Youth Choir of Northern Ireland and has been part of the music education team for The National Opera House, Wexford.  

Dr. Douglas Carnes is the founding Executive and Artistic Director of the Danu Young Women’s Choir in Letterkenny, County Donegal. An American-born choral conductor and educator, he is dedicated to empowering young singers through high-quality choral training and meaningful musical experiences.

Carnes studied Music Education and Choral Conducting at Five Towns College in New York, earning both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree. Originally trained as a percussionist, he began his professional career performing in the Broadway production of The Lion King. His early career also included teaching and developing choral programmes in Harlem, New York, where he focused on building community through singing.

In 2020 he relocated to Donegal with his wife, Taryn, where he founded the Danu Young Women’s Choir to create greater opportunities for young women to sing and develop confidence through music.  Most recently, Carnes received his Doctorate in Music Performance from the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.

Sinéad Crowley works as a piano teacher, choral conductor, accompanist, and musicianship tutor at the SETU Music School in Waterford. She is one of the directors of the SETU Music School’s renowned choral music programme, currently directing the SETU Children’s Choir and the SETU Girls’ Choir and accompanying the SETU Youth Choir and Lumina. Sinéad also directs Voci, an upper voice community choir in Waterford.

Sinéad completed her BA Mus in WIT and furthered her studies into music education at the Kodály Pedagogical Institute in Hungary and the University of Reading. She also holds an MA in Choral Studies from DCU. Sinéad is highly involved in many aspects of choral music. She sings in Trinity Capella in Waterford and has worked as an accompanist with many choirs, including the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain

As a former member of IYC and beneficiary of the Conductor in Training position with the Irish Youth Choir, Sinéad is delighted to be working with the singers, other tutors and conductor of the 14-17 group this year.

Felicity has a passion for music education and teaches singing at Exeter and Worcester Colleges, Oxford University, schools, music schools and privately. She is in demand as a vocal technique specialist and choral coach, working regularly with The National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and Saffron Centre for Young Musicians, as well as various adult choirs around the country. Graduating from The Royal Academy of Music with a first for her Final Recital, soprano Felicity Hamilton also represented RAM in the Junior Kathleen Ferrier Award.

 
Her operatic experience includes the roles of 'Diane', Hippolyte et Aricie, Rameau, 'Drusilla', L'incoronazione di Poppea, Monteverdi (Royal Academy opera scenes), 'Adele', Die Fledermaus, J Strauss (LOC) and 'Frog', The Cunning Little Vixen, Janacek (RAO) under Sir Charles Mackerras. She has also premiered new works, including Three Wessex Pictures, a song cycle of settings of Thomas Hardy poems composed for her by Christopher Meux and performed both in Germany and her native Nottingham.  She also created the lead role in a new operetta by Meux, Mai 1849, in Prüm, Germany. Felicity performed as a backing singer for the band Elbow on their "Seldom Seen Kid - Live at Abbey Road" CD, with a solo on the "Mirrorball" track.

Following a ten year teaching career, Gail Evans is now a highly sought after accompanist throughtout Northern Ireland and further afield. As well as working with the Belfast Philharmonic Choirs, the Ulster University Choir and the National Youth Choir of Northern Ireland, Gail also enjoys working with Dublin Youth Choir, the National Youth Choir of Scotland, the Charles Wood Festival, the Ulster Orchestra and the Sperrin Choir (where she started her accompanying career at the age of seventeen).

Gail has the privilege of working with many accomplished musicians, including conductors such as James Grossmith, Christopher Bell and Jac Van Steen, vocal specialists Paul Farrington and Mary King, instrumentalists such as Sir James Galway and composers such as the late James Whitbourn, Welsh composer Paul Mealor and Irish composer Seán Doherty.

Gail has performed throughout Ireland, Scotland, England, Europe and the USA, not only as a choral accompanist but performing with vocalists and instrumentalists for recitals, masterclasses, recordings and festivals. Having had the privilege of learning from Irish pianists Elizabeth Bicker and Stephanie Hughes in her younger years, Gail is now developing her skills under the tutelage and inspiration of London based pianist and author of the award winning book ‘The Complete Pianist’, Penelope Roskell.