Staff

Sonya Keogh

Sonya Keogh BMus MPhil, is an opera singer, voice coach, musicologist, and community and youth music specialist.

In 2000, Sonya made her operatic debut when she appeared as Flora in an Opera Cork production of La Traviata at the Cork Opera House. She has since performed the roles of Mother Amahl and the Night Visitors, Dido Dido and Aeneas, Lazarillo Maritana, Mercedes Carmen, Suzuki Madame Butterfly, Maurya Riders to the Sea, Madame T Madame T, Uzziah Judith and Holofernes, and Mother and Witch Hansel and Gretel.

Sonya began her sacred music training at Christ Church Cathedral as a member of the cathedral choir. She now serves as cantor in the Honan Chapel at University College Cork. Her knowledge of the sacred repertoire is extensive as is her concert experience.

As a voice coach, Sonya is in demand both nationally and internationally. Indeed, she spends much time in Japan and China working with children's choral groups.

An honours graduate of the Cork School of Music and an honours postgraduate of University College Cork, Sonya's more general experience includes lecturing at access, certificate and third level, choral conducting, and concert management, publicity and promotion.

Sonya is a founding director of Opera Works. She has played a key role in the establishment of the company's core initiative Cork Children's Chorus. Her areas of expertise and responsibility include management, research, policy development, programme development, fundraising, PR, artistic direction, and voice coaching.

Sonya lives in Cork with her family and continues to enrich, support and promote the cultural life of her city.

www.sonyakeogh.com

John O'Brien

John O'Brien, an alumnus of the Schola Cantorum, St Finian's College, Mullingar, graduated with a first honours Bachelor of Music degree and a Masters Degree in Conducting from the Cork School of Music. He continues to pursue his conducting studies with George Hurst, at Canford in the South of England.

John has directed and conducted: C.S.L. Parker's 24 Songs, at the Cork Opera House for Opera Works; John Gibson's Judith and Holofernes, as part of the Cork2005 European Capital of Culture official programme, at the Cork International Choral Festival, also for Opera Works; Dido and Aeneas in various venues in Cork and Kildare for Opera 2005; Jesus Christ Superstar and Deirdre (which he also co-wrote) at University College Cork.

John has been Musical Director / Conductor for numerous productions, including: Carols from Cork 2005 (featuring, among others, Gay Byrne, G4, Majellagh Cullagh, James Galway, and the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, as well as orchestra and almost 600 choristers) for RTÉ television; Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel for Opera Works and the Cork Opera House; Madam T for Meridian and Opera Works; Deazley's Bug Off Northern Irish tour for Opera Theatre Company; The Sound of Music, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the Cork Opera House; Oliver and Anything Goes at The Everyman Palace, Cork; and The Sound of Music at the Theatre Royal in Waterford.

John has also worked as a repetiteur and piano player for many productions including West Side Story, Side by Side by Sondheim, and The Wizard of Oz.

John is a member of the Cork International Choral Festival Artistic Advisory Board.

Allin Gray

Born and educated in Cork, Allin Gray held a variety of positions in London, including a three years with the Metropolitan Police, before returning to Cork in 1995 to study at the Cork School of Music, where he graduated with an honours BMus in 2000.

On completion of his undergraduate studies, Allin took a position as administrator of the Irish Association of Youth Orchestras, based in Cork City. This demanding position involved all aspects of the running of the organisation. Allin was general manager of the IAYO Festival of Youth Orchestras, which is held annually in the National Concert Hall, and also managed the South East Regional Youth Orchestra and the Western Region Youth Orchestra. He represented IAYO at the European Association of Youth Orchestras and the Forum for Music in Ireland, and has engaged in assisting both those organisations in their work.

Among Allin's many skills are financial administration, print & design, web design and development, information management, and board development. Although no longer working with IAYO, he keeps in contact with the network, and lends his experience and voice to securing funding for the organisation.

A guitar player by trade, Allin is a musical pluralist, having performed classical, jazz, rock, folk and techno / drum and bass. He spent several years as guitar player with the Cork School of Music Jazz Big Band and has performed widely throughout Cork and Ireland.

Allin is presently on scholarship at the Cork School of Music for an MA in editing, compiling and editing the first phase of the Complete Works of Aloys Fleischmann.

www.allingray.com