Academic biography

Dr Róisín Blunnie is the Programme Chair of DCU's MA in Choral Studies and an assistant professor in the School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music.

On the MA in Choral Studies and Bachelor of Religious Education and Music programmes, she teaches modules in the areas of choral conducting and choral leadership; music history, form and style; music performance, solfege/musicianship and keyboard skills; and music-teaching for post-primary level; and she conducts the DCU Lumen Chorale, a 75-strong choir of undergraduate music students. Prior to the establishment of the School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music at DCU, she was Head of the Music Department at Mater Dei Institute in Drumcondra. 

Róisín is the founder and conductor of award-winning Dublin-based chamber choir Laetare Vocal Ensemble. With Laetare, she released the critically acclaimed album Ghost Songs: Contemporary Music and Words from Ireland (Divine Art Records, 2021), featuring guest performers Marina Carr, Paula Meehan, Dairena Ní Chinnéide, Carl Corcoran, and Síle Denvir.

Together with Dr Ciarán Crilly, Head of the School of Music at UCD, Róisín is the editor of Perspectives on Conducting, a collection of chapters by Irish and international scholar-practitioners in choral and orchestral conducting (Routledge, forthcoming 2023).

Róisín has a PhD in Music from Trinity College Dublin, an MA in Kodály Pedagogy and an Advanced Diploma in Choral Conducting from the Liszt Academy (Kodály Institute) in Kecskemét, Hungary, and a first-class honours degree in Music and History from TCD, awarded with the gold medal of the university. Her PhD studies on cultural influences and imperial ideology in the early cantatas and oratorios of Edward Elgar were supported by the Irish Research Council and the TCD Non-Foundation Scholarship, and her studies in Hungary were funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and the International Kodály Society.