Orla Flanagan

Biography

Orla Flanagan completed her undergraduate degree in music at Trinity College, Dublin. She received an Advanced Diploma in Choral Conducting, Solfege and Pedagogy from the Zoltán Kodály Institute of Music, Hungary, where she studied conducting with Péter Erdei, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Music in Performance (Choral Conducting) from the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 2012. Orla has also participated in conducting courses and masterclasses throughout Europe with Gary Graden, Carlo Pavese, Anders Eby, Celso Antunes and George Hurst. Orla's mixed-voice choir, The Mornington Singers, has been awarded numerous prizes throughout Ireland and abroad. In 2006, 2011 and 2014 Orla gained the International Jury Award (the MacCurtain and McSwiney Trophy) to a conductor at the Fleischmann International Trophy Competition, and in April 2009 she was awarded a special prize for the interpretation of the compulsory Slovenian work at the 10th International Choral Competition, Maribor, Slovenia. Under Orla's direction, the choir has recorded three CDs: Solas (2008), Water Night (2010) and Noel (2013). Orla is in demand as an adjudicator at Irish choral festivals, most recently in Arklow, Cork, Derry, New Ross and Waterford. She directed Milltown Chamber Choir, a nine-voice professional vocal ensemble based in Milltown Church, Dublin, from 2006-2011, and has recorded and performed as a guest conductor with the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, including the Spring Tour 2011 and a trip to Washington DC in March 2011. She has toured as a conductor in the USA, Canada, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia. Orla has lectured at TCD Department of Music since 2002.

Research Interest

Choral Music; Music; Music Conducting; Musicology/Music Theory; New Music; Performing Arts; Vocal Music