Meet the Artists – 2024

Formed in 2012, by violist Beth McNinch, Musici Ireland have performed hundreds of concerts across Ireland and have been broadcast across the world.  In 2022, their live concert recordings ‘Live fromWells House’ were broadcast in 12 Countries to an estimated audience of 38 million (figures courtesy of RTE Lyric FM).  Beth McNinch is one of Ireland’s leading musicians, enjoying a busy and varied freelance career as a violist, educator, artistic director and producer. She is joined by a core team including Jane Hackett, Katie Tertell and Vourneen Ryan, who all bring a wealth of experience in different areas of performance and arts management.

Musici Ireland recently recorded their debut album with BAFTA & Grammy award winning producer Jonathan Allen. The album, launching at New Music Dublin in April 2024, featuring chamber works by 6 living Irish composers, including the title piece “Earthrise”, a new concerto for viola and chamber ensemble by Wexford composer Liam Bates.  In March 2024, Musici Ireland presented a 3-day festival in Frankfurt as part of Culture Ireland’s Zeitgeist Irland 24 initiative, including a performance of “A Mother’s Voice” and collaborative chamber concerts with German musicians.  You can find out more about Musici Ireland and listen to their podcast “Musici Chats” at www.musici.ie and on the usual social media platforms.

Irish soprano Róisín O’Grady has performed in recital, oratorio and chamber music throughout Ireland and her performance repertoire ranges from the Baroque era to modern
day compositions. Róisín studied Music and Italian at University College, Cork and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in concert singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow. She received a First Class Hons. M.A. in Performance at the Cork School of Music in 2008. She was a member of and a soloist with the National Chamber Choir of Ireland for over two years. She performed with the choir throughout Ireland and toured Holland and Lebanon. In 2011 they performed for US President Barack Obama in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day.

Róisín has performed with early music ensembles, orchestras and choral societies throughout Ireland and the UK including the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Irish Baroque Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Cecilia. She is a member of the early music duo tonos who performed in the John Field Room, National Concert Hall, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Sligo Festival of Baroque Music, and was broadcast in concert by Lyric FM.  She is currently undertaking a DMus in Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she is researching the Ballet and Dallis Lute Books at Trinity College. She is very grateful to Arts Council Ireland from whom she has received numerous bursaries and awards to help further develop her singing career.

Full biography available at www.roisinogrady.com

Simon Harden lectures in Organ performance at the TU Dublin Conservatoire and is Organist and Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford.  Regular concert engagements take him throughout Europe and further afield. He has performed solo recitals in such venues as Notre-Dame Paris, La Sainte-Trinité Paris, Westminster Abbey London, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, St Jacobi Hamburg and the Martinikerk Groningen. Simon began his studies at Trinity College Dublin reading Music and History of Art. Further studies at the Music Academies in Berlin (Leo van Doeselaar) and Hamburg (Wolfgang Zerer and Pieter van Dijk) led to a first-class Postgraduate degree in performance followed by a ‘Premier Prix’ for his studies in France (Eric Lebrun).  On receiving a scholarship from the City of Hamburg, he took the ‘Konzertexamen’ with distinction, the highest award for performance in Germany.

Simon has won several prizes in international competitions including 1st prize and audience prize at the ‘International Schnitger Organ Competition’ in the Netherlands and 2nd prize at the ‘Grand Prix Bach de Lausanne’.  He was also awarded the DAAD prize for ‘outstanding performance and intercultural involvement’ whilst in Hamburg. He has served as a deputy organist in both Christ Church and St Patrick’s Cathedrals in Dublin has made regular appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra and RTÉ Concert
Orchestra of Ireland. In addition to his work as an organist, Simon has extensive experience as a choral conductor and has directed many choirs in both Ireland and Germany. Through this work, he has performed a vast amount of repertoire, both secular and sacred, including a performance of Mozart’s Requiem in Frankfurt with period instruments.
In 2021, he founded the Waterford International Organ Festival. Further activities include serving on jury panels at national and international competitions and Simon’s research into new and historic organs has received publication in the international ‘Choir and Organ’ magazine.  Solo CD recordings include performances on the Marcussen organ in Gettorf and the new Glatter-Götz organ in Bad Vilbel.

Matthias Havinga is a concert organist and pianist, professor of organ at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, liturgical organist of the Oude Kerk Amsterdam and
organist titulaire of the 1830 Bätz- organ at the Koepelkerk in Amsterdam. He acquired his Master of Music degree summa cum laude at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam as a student of Jacques van Oortmerssen, graduating in piano from the same institution as a pupil of Marcel Baudet. At the Royal Conservatory in The Hague he studied church music under Jos van der Kooy.

Matthias was awarded several prizes at international organ competitions. He enjoys an international career, performing and teaching at prestigious venues across Europe, the USA, Russia and South America. Matthias also performed solo with renowned choirs and orchestras, such as the Tonhalleorchester Zürich, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Bach Society. His CDs, ‘J.S.Bach – Italian Concertos’, ‘Passacaglia’, ‘Dutch Delight’, ‘Mendelssohn – Organ Works’, ‘Concerto Barocco’; with recorder quintet Seldom Sene, and ‘Miroir de Peine’ with soprano Klaartje van Veldhoven, all released on the Brilliant Classics label, have been received with widespread acclaim. Matthias runs a Youtube-channel devoted to organ music and can also be heard in his recordings for AllofBach. Matthias likes to cover the entire range of repertoire for the organ, from medieval to contemporary music and everything in between. He also enjoys combining the organ with other instruments.