Sinéad drops the the fiddle for the conductor's baton

By JOSH LEE MUSIC has always been a burning passion for Sinéad Hayes. Since her national school days in St Colman's NS in Cummer, the Corofin native has fostered a love affair with musical instruments. [private] However, as often is the case, pragmatism comes first and Sinéad opted to follow a steadier career in engineering. Fate has her little quirks though, and it wasn't long before she found herself taking the plunge into a professional career in the world of music. Now living in Manchester where she works as an orchestral conductor, Sinéad is preparing to conduct the city's new Irish orchestra in a special concert as part of this year's Manchester's Irish Festival. Beyond the Shamrock: Music from Ireland will be held in the grand surroundings of Manchester Cathedral on March 11. The Ivernia Orchestra, named for the title given to Ireland by the ancient Greek-Roman polymath Ptolemy, is comprised of Irish classical musicians from all corners of the country based in the UK who have come together to celebrate this country's vibrant musical past and present and to look to the future. Trad at start The performance's link to traditional Irish music is something that's important to Sinéad. Her first contact with an instrument was learning the fiddle at St Colman's, where she played in bands and groups for Corofin Comhaltas, winning All-Ireland titles in trios, ceílí bands and grupaí ceoil, as well as being crowned the 12- to 15-year-old lilting champion in 1993. 'This is a very exciting project for me. As well as being a conductor of classical music, I have played and listened to traditional Irish music all my life. It is thrilling to bring the two worlds together to a wide audience,' she says. Sinéad started in Scoil Bhríde Mercy Secondary School in Tuam in 1991 and she remembers her years there fondly; the opportunities she was given sowed and nurtured the seeds of her eventual career in music. 'Music was a very big part of life at the Mercy,' she recounts. 'I really enjoyed all the opportunities I had while I was a pupil there; leading the orchestras and performing as piano accompanist to the school choir at the National Concert Hall in 1995, and of course the annual opera with St Jarlath's. 'I think all the work we did with the choir really helped when I got a job as music director of Bury Choral Society.' While attending the Mercy, she won a scholarship to study violin in the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin, taking the weekly trip up by train. Sinéad holds a special place in her heart for Sr Damian Conroy, whose encouragement she credits with spurring her on to earn the scholarship. However, while her love for music only grew, she reasoned that pursuing music professionally wasn't a viable career choice in the West. Engineering bursary 'I subsequently completed a four-year degree in Civil Engineering at NUI Galway, winning the National University of Ireland Bursary in Civil Engineering, which paid for me to go study in London.' In London, she completed a Masters degree in Structural Steel Design at the Imperial College, although music remained at the back of her mind, and close to her heart. 'I kept up violin all this time and always intended to go back to music. Following a couple of years of working as a structural engineer I conducted an orchestra for the first time, and realised this was what I wanted to do.' Sinéad put her engineering career on hold, and went back to university with the intention of becoming a professional conductor. 'I did a music degree in City University, London, getting violin lessons at the Guildhall School of Music,' she remembers. 'I then won a place on the prestigious Masters course in conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music.' She graduated in 2009. Since graduating, she has gone on to conduct orchestras all over the North West of England, in London and across Europe, recently working with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Sinéad made her London operatic debut with Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro for the British Youth Opera, and also conducted the Bury Choral Society in a rendition of the Romantic Czech composer Antonín Dvorák's Mass in D in 2010. Although she sometimes misses engineering and the 'peculiarly pleasant' whiff of wet concrete, Sinéad is now committed to conducting. She is the music director of Bury Choral Society, principal conductor of South Manchester's Amaretti Chamber Orchestra and the assistant music director of Stockport Youth Orchestra, duties she balances with her guest conductor engagements. While the classical offerings in the UK may be more plentiful than in Ireland, she sees a bright future for classical music in the place of her birth. 'The ConTempo Quartet, Galway Music Residency and the RTÉ orchestras have done amazing work in building an audience for classical music, and we have a huge wealth of musical talent in the West. 'It would be fantastic to see a professional orchestra based in the West of Ireland in the future,' she comments. Tickets for Beyond the Shamrock are available from Quay Tickets on 0843 208 0500 or on the door. To contact Ivernia Orchestra, visit facebook IverniaOrchestra, or email iverniaorchestra@ yahoo.co.uk. [/private]