Karen Ní Bhroin

With a career that spans both sides of the Atlantic and consistently draws attention, Karen Ní Bhroin has established herself as one of Ireland’s foremost young conductors. This season, Karen makes her debut with the Hallé and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, at the Royal Festival Hall and further affield with the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo.  She also returns to the Royal Albert Hall to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at Anna Lapwood’s Christmas concert, following her debut there last year with the BBC Concert Orchestra. Karen continues her strong relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra and has further guest conducting appearances across the UK and Europe, as well as continued work in conducting education and mentorship.

Last season Karen made her BBC Proms debut with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra along side the BBC Symphony Chorus, Singers and soloists. She also debuted with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Welsh National Opera and returned to the National Symphony Orchestra in Ireland. She was appointed Senior Lecturer in Conducting and Female Artist in Residence (FAiR) at Mozarteum University Salzburg for the second half of the season, a role which has been extended for a further 6 months. She assisted English National Opera’s production of Donizetti’s Elixir of Love and conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in several education and outreach projects as well as joining them on the opening night of their season. Karen was a 2024 recipient of the prestigious Taki Alsop Fellowship, following two years of mentorship under Marin Alsop.

In recent seasons, Karen Ní Bhroin has collaborated with some of the UK and Ireland’s leading orchestras, including Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Manchester Camerata, RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. She was Music Director for Irish National Opera’s Breathwork in 2023, and at the 2024 Bregenz Festival, she led the world premiere of Éna Brennan’s Hold Your Breath, directed by David Pountney, as well as a music and poetry evening featuring Marcus Nigsch’s Map of a Crime. Other international engagements have included the Grand Rapids Symphony and conducting the world premiere of Mark Lanz Weiser’s opera Galaxies in Her Eyes with the Winston-Salem Symphony in the United States. She has also conducted the TRNC Presidential Symphony Orchestra and worked with the Orchestre Métropolitain and Orchestre Symphonique de Québec in Canada in masterclasses.

Karen has worked closely with leading conductors including JoAnn Falletta, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Thomas Wilkins, and has been mentored by Marin Alsop, Timothy Redmond, and Neil Thomson. She was a fellow at the inaugural National Orchestral Institute Conducting Academy, and has taken part in advanced training at Dartington and Snape Maltings. She is also a recipient of a French language residency at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris and two Emerging Artist bursaries from the Arts Council of Ireland.

Creator of the podcast ‘And Other Duties, The Life of the Assistant Conductor’ and And Other Duties, Conducting Courses, Karen is on a mission to change conducting education: to teach the things that are not usually taught and to create a forum for honest conversations and communication. They have hosted successful courses in Dublin, Macedonia, Manchester, the Netherlands and New York covering a wide range of skills.

Having studied at home in Ireland from 2016-2018, Karen worked closely with the National Symphony Orchestra and National Philharmonic Choir. She subsequently moved to the USA, where she held the position of Assistant Conductor of North Carolina’s Winston-Salem Symphony, Music Director of the Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras Program and Associate Conductor and Visiting Professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts from 2020-2022. A music education graduate of Trinity College Dublin, she earned her Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting at Kent State University, Ohio, where she studied with Dr. Jungho Kim as his Graduate Assistant Conductor.

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