Roisin Blunnie
Dr.
Dr Róisín Blunnie is Associate Professor of Music at the School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music, DCU. She is the Programme Chair of DCU's MA in Choral Studies and leads the University's well-known Choral Leadership Days at the All Hallows Campus.
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; solfege and music theory; aural and keyboard skills; music history and culture, and music-teaching for post-primary level; and she conducts the DCU Lumen Chorale, a 75-strong choir of undergraduate music students. She is currently supervising doctoral research on the British composer Ethel Smyth, the history and usage of the Alleluia, analytical considerations in children's song collections, inclusive strategies for choral leadership, and contemporary Irish choral music. Róisín received an IRC Research Ally Award in 2023. 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.
She was the DCU team lead for the Erasmus+ project PRESTO (2021-23), working in collaboration with the Liszt Academy (Hungary), Caprice Oy (Finland), the National Youth Choir of Scotland, and Sing Ireland to produce an extensive suite of flexible digital learning resources, approaches, and activities, available at www.kodalyhub.com/presto. Together with Dr Ciarán Crilly UCD), she is the editor of Perspectives on Conducting, a collection of chapters by Irish and international scholar-practitioners in choral and orchestral conducting (Routledge, 2024).
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.
Peer Reviewed Journal
Year | Publication | |
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2016 | Blunnie, Róisín (2016) 'Seeking the Sacred: Edward Elgar's Caractacus and Surpassing the Roman Empire'. REA: RELIGION, EDUCATION AND THE ARTS, (10):28-46. [Link] | |
2016 | Blunnie, Róisín; Flanagan, Orla (editors) (2016) 'Issue 10: Sacred Music: Perspectives on Performance'. REA: RELIGION, EDUCATION AND THE ARTS, (10). [Link] |
Conference Contribution
Book Review
Year | Publication | |
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2019 | Róisín Blunnie (2019) 'Music in Irish Cultural History', review of 'A Musical Offering: Essays in Honour of Gerard Gillen'. New York: BREV [Link] |
Video recording / TV
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
2017 | Róisín Blunnie, Donal Hurley, Bob Gallagher (2017) Lumen, Lumen, Mater Dei. VID [Link] |
Music score
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
2019 | Roisin Blunnie (editor), Ben Hanlon (composer) (2019) Haec Dies, for SATB choir. Waterford: MUSIC [Link] | |
2019 | Róisín Blunnie (editor), Eoghan Desmond (composer) (2019) Fauxbourdon Canticles. Waterford: MUSIC [Link] | |
2019 | Róisín Blunnie (editor), Ben Hanlon (composer) (2019) Beannacht ar Chách. Waterford: MUSIC [Link] | |
2019 | Róisín Blunnie (editor), Liam Bates (composer) (2019) Psalm 23. Waterford: MUSIC [Link] | |
2018 | Róisín Blunnie (editor), Eric Sweeney (composer) (2018) Psalm 23. Waterford: MUSIC [Link] | |
2018 | Róisín Blunnie (editor), Ben Hanlon (composer) (2018) ?r nAthair. Waterford: MUSIC [Link] | |
2018 | Róisín Blunnie (editor), Raeghnya Zutshi (composer) (2018) Ubi Caritas. Waterford: MUSIC [Link] |
Honors and Awards
Education
Other Activities
Enterprise Engagement
Outreach Activities
Research Interests
- Choral conducting and choir leadership
- Choral music: analysis, interpretation, style
- Choral sound: choral-vocal pedagogy, intonation, ensemble
- Cantatas and oratorios of Edward Elgar; music in late 19th-century and early 20th-century Britain
- Music pedagogy; digital resources and teaching processes for polyphonic skill development
Teaching Interests
- Choral Conducting Technique
- Interpretation and Musical Style in Choral Music
- Choral Leadership
- Solfege and Music Theory
- Music History and Analysis
- Post-Primary Music Pedagogy