About Dara
Dara is an educator, vocal coach and singing specialist, working in the community, education and arts sectors in a variety of roles, including performer, teacher, coach, facilitator, administrator and advocate.
A dynamic, intuitive, problem-solving person, with excellent interpersonal skills and a legal background, together with a genuine interest in equality of opportunity and in developing untapped potential, she enjoys working with people of all ages and abilities, using singing and performance as a tool to explore creativity, build confidence and learn life-skills
She is passionate about Singing for Health and Wellbeing, and involved in many singing projects supporting communities and people with chronic health conditions (for example, Wicklow Parkinsons Choir, Get Vocal Choir for older people in County Wicklow, Health & Harmony outreach dementia programme sponsored by the National Concert Hall, Ageing Voices project with Sing Ireland, Wicklow Dementia Support group). In 2021, she started an exciting new programme of online singing sessions for people with Long Covid, a joint initiative with the UK based charity, Sing to Beat/Canterbury Trust and Professor Grenville Hancox.
Founder and Artistic Director of Wicklow Sings, an annual festival of singing for County Wicklow based choirs, reflecting her interest in building and supporting community, and bringing together groups for a common purpose.
Dara is much in demand as a singing teacher and vocal coach – she regularly facilitates singing workshops, was a choral tutor with Music Generation Wicklow in local primary schools and is founder and director of Greystones Vocal Academy, a successful music school.
A versatile performer, with varied musical interests from music hall and musicals, to classical and jazz, Dara is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the Royal Irish Academy of Music (Masters in Music Performance) and has performed extensively in venues nationwide. She produced and toured with her hugely popular show, The Good Old Days, for many years and released a CD of the same name.