Patron - Catherine Connolly
President of Ireland
Engaging Young Minds with Opera
Youth Opera Ireland is dedicated to creating operatic experiences that seamlessly blend music, storytelling, and visual arts. Through our performances, we aim to captivate young audiences, inviting them to actively participate in the artistic journey. At the heart of our work is a commitment to making opera accessible and enjoyable for young people. Through collaborative, imaginative productions, we encourage creativity and emotional connection, fostering a lifelong love of the art form. A central part of our approach is group singing. This shared practice creates an environment where leadership can emerge naturally among older participants, while younger members feel supported and secure. Ultimately, what we create is more than a performance; it is an experience. Opera offers a unique space for expression, imagination, and individuality, and we place that creative freedom at the centre of everything we do.
Empowering Young Voices Through Opera
At Youth Opera Ireland, our mission is to make opera accessible and enjoyable for young people. Through collaborative, imaginative productions, we encourage creativity and emotional connection, fostering a lifelong love of the art form.
Meet the Team
Our dedicated team brings together a diverse range of talents and experiences to create unforgettable operatic productions.
Naoise Whearity
Artistic Director
Naoise is a Dublin-based conductor and music educator. She is Choral Director at Rathdown School and conducts at Royal Irish Academy of Music. She has worked with the National Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir Ireland. In 2025, she won First Prize and the Singers Prize at the Feis Ceoil Choral Conducting Competition and appeared as a guest conductor with Vancouver Chamber Choir in Canada and Finland.
Ciarán Kelly
Artistic Director
Ciarán is conductor of Cór Linn (National Symphony Orchestra, National Concert Hall), Head of Music at King’s Hospital School, and an active professional singer. Recent work includes a new 20-minute choral commission for young voices with strings and piano for New Music Dublin; partnerships with Syng Selected and the Danish National Youth Choir; and performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor.