Guest Director

Bernard Sexton

Bernard pursued his undergraduate music studies at University College Dublin and DIT Conservatory of Music,  and holds a Master’s degree in Composition from the University of Chichester. His compositions have been published in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and his music is frequently performed on RTE radio and television. Many of his compostions, such as “Though We Are Many”,  “The Last Supper” and his Mass of Renewal  have become part of the established liturgical repertoire in Ireland.  Bernard founded the multi-award winning chamber choir, Anima, and his choral music has been performed by some of Ireland’s premier ensembles. Recent commissions include a new official Mass setting of texts in the Irish language. Bernard was music director/ composer for the revised national primary school religion programme ,Grow in Love, published by Veritas, Ireland.   He is currently ‘composer in residence’ at St Gregory Catholic Church, Phoenix, AZ and lectures in liturgical composition at Maynooth Pontifical University.

Workshop Team

Ephrem Feeley – Music for the Church Year

Ephrem is one of Ireland’s most established church composers, whose music has been published in the US by GIA Publications and OCP. His corpus of music includes over 200 pieces of liturgical music, many of which are born out of years of experience playing, singing and conducting at liturgies. His music has won awards at every major liturgical music competition held in Ireland since 1997. His Mass of Saint Paul was one of four mass settings chosen by the Irish Bishops’ Conference following the publication of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal and was used throughout the International Eucharistic Congress held in Dublin in 2012. His hymn “A Joy for All the Earth” was chosen as the official hymn of the World Meeting of Families, Dublin 2018. His first collection was Here in Christ We Gather;  followed by Our Hearts are Restless (GIA, 2018).

John Jones – Music in the Irish Tradition

John is a musician and composer who is currently based in St. John’s Church, Tralee, and has been actively involved in sacred music for over 40 years both as an organist and choir director. He has produced two collections of music in the Irish tradition, Dunta Chríost 1 & 2, as well as a variety of liturgical music in English that is often influenced by Irish culture and context. In addition to his musical pursuits, John is a Chartered Engineer and a Senior Lecturer at the Munster Technological University.

Karen O’Donovan – Music for Sacramental Celebrations

Originally from West Cork, Karen is a Deputy Principal in Ériu Community College, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. She graduated with a B.A. in Theology and a Masters in Theology (Specialising in Liturgy) from St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Currently, Karen is a member of Ronan McDonagh’s choir Fuaimlaoi and Cantando under the direction of Orla Barry. She has much experience in the area of Liturgy, having worked as the Director of Liturgy for the Redemptorist Order in Marianella, Rathgar, Dublin. Karen also has a lot of experience in the area of Music, in particular Sacred Music, having worked with Liam Lawton, Kevin O’Carroll and Ronan McDonagh. She was also a soloist for the Statio Orbis during the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 2012 and was a member of the special choir for the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park in August 2018. Karen has much experience as a Cantor in St. Michael’s Church in Dun Laoighaire, St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral and on many occasions at the National Centre for Liturgy. Karen is currently a member of the Advisory Committee for Church Music and the Irish Church Music Association.

Thérèse Gaughan – Cantor

Thérèse is a music teacher and church musician from Mayo. She is a graduate of NUI Maynooth, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth and the University of Limerick and is currently studying for an MA in Music Performance at the University of York. She was selected for the first Chamber Choir Ireland Studio training programme for 23/24. Thérèse teaches at Coláiste Nano Nagle, Limerick city and is a regular cantor at St Muredach’s Cathedral, Ballina and occasionally at Galway Cathedral. She has represented Ireland at international chant festivals with Schola Gregoriana Maynooth and was a cantor at IEC 2012 and WMOF 2018 in Dublin. She sings with the choirs of Maynooth College and St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Galway and is currently a choral scholar at Leeds Cathedral.

Dominic Finn – Conducting

Director of Music at St Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh directing 3 different choirs there. Dominic has directed choirs who have sung liturgies in Westminster Cathedral, St Peter’s Basilica Vatican, St. Stephen’s Cathedral Vienna, and for the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park in 2018. Dominic has been a member of the ICMA since 1993, and has served as organist and tutor over the years, as well as being a current Board member.

Orla Barry – Choral Singing

Órla Barry is a graduate of University College Dublin and the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. and founder of Cantando. She has worked extensively as a singer, conductor and teacher both here in Ireland and in the United States. She directed Dublin’s famous Palestrina Choir at the Pro-Cathedral for 6 years and has served as guest conductor for Chamber Choir Ireland on several occasions. 

Ian Callanan – Composition

This workshop will introduce you to the basics of composition with a focus on composition for liturgy. You will be guided, step by step, through writing a composition, while being equipped with tools to continue composing after the workshop.