Teachers

Melisa Belen Corso began her musical studies with violin and classical guitar, before specialising on violin. She has had the opportunity to learn from many excellent teachers, and has been part of various musical groups which gave her an optimal environment for her growth as a musician. She has performed as a soloist on international stages and with several orchestras. In 2014 she joined the first violins of the OSUNC Symphonic Orchestra where she performed Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto n1. In 2016 she performed the premier of Concierto Irlandes composed by Leandro Flores and conducted by Daniel Mazza.

Melisa has numerous scholarships to be part of several music festivals developed in Brazil such as: Oficinas de Musica de Curitiba, Música nas Montanhas Festival, FEMUSC Festival, among others. Through these festivals she had the opportunity to learn from renowned international teachers. In 2018 Melisa moved to Brazil to become a private student of Marcello Guerchfeld who studied at the Juilliard School of Music.

Melisa was a member of several different orchestras in Brazil where she had the opportunity to perform a wide orchestral repertoire. Some of these were Theatro Sao Pedro Orchestra and Santa María Symphonic Orchestra UFSM.

In 2020 she moved to Argentina and was offered a position as a violin teacher at the Suzuki Method School where she worked until the end of 2021. During that year Melisa worked as a violin and viola teacher in a social project at Padre Gaston Vergonjeanne School in Córdoba, Argentina.

Alongside her classical violin studies, Melisa has also been trained in Irish Traditional Music since 2010. She joined a celtic music band called Cordoba Celtica and she was teaching fiddle at EICI Branch of Comhaltas in Cordoba, Argentina.

Niall Woods hold a Masters in Music and Media Technology from Trinity College Dublin, and is a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy in piano performance. He is also an accomplished drummer and guitar player, and performs regularly throughout the Dublin area. As well as playing classical and jazz, Niall is also a traditional Irish music player, and can regularly be heard playing concertina and banjo in Dann’s or the The Horse and Hound in Greystones/Delgany.

Several of his compositions have received a lot of radio play and songs such as ‘Let’s Go Driving’, ‘Life Goes On’ and ‘Summer Feeling’ have been included on the RTE Recommends List.

You can find these compositions on Spotify below:

Clodagh Brennan is a music graduate studying voice with Stephen Wallace and repetiteur Aoife O Sullivan and piano under David Brophy in DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. Clodagh has been a member of the DIT choral society, performances included Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria. She has also been a member of DIT chamber choir for, performances include Christmas concerts in the national concert hall and an appearance of ‘Carols from Dublin Castle’ with RTE. She have been involved in several operas. She appeared as First Genie in The Magic Flute, Chorus for Dido and Aneas, and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, all with North Dublin Opera. She appeared in one of DIT’s ‘Scenes and Songs of seasonal enchantments’ concert in the Hugh Lane Gallery at Christmas and was part of the chorus for the Marriage of Figaro and Susanna with DIT.
Clodagh also has completed the diploma in music education, specialising in choral conducting, in the Kodály Institute in Hungary

Anna Clifford is a graduate from RIAM in cello performance and plays in a number of Orchestras and New Music ensembles as well as playing jazz bass and clarinet in a number of groups. She holds a BA honours in Music and is the recipient of the Gerald Victory Composition Prize.

Matthew Ellison is a classical-crossover guitarist with an BA in Music and English. He has a licentiate in classical guitar with Trinity College London, and has also studied pop/rock music with the Brighton Institute of Modern Music in DIT. His guitar teachers have included Eamon Sweeney, John Feeley and Redmond O’Toole.

James Connor is a brass and woodwind multi-instrumentalist, playing Saxophone, Flute and Trombone. He is primarily a jazz musician but also has a strong background in classical music, studying flute under Bill Dowdall at the RIAM and playing trombone for Trinity College Orchestra. He gigs weekly around Dublin in a variety of genres, on a variety of instruments and is an Assistant Conductor with Bray Concert Band. James has a keen interest in particular composing and arranging for brass and woodwind.

Cece Liu is a graduate from Shenyang Music Conservatory for violin and classical vocals. She has performed with several orchestras, and has also taken part in many festivals and chamber music performances. Currently Cece is teaching singing and violin to all ages and levels and has experience preparing students for both RIAM and ABRSM exams.