Dr Siobhán Armstrong

Siobhán Armstrong is a coach, mentor, academic and Ireland’s most versatile performer of medieval to 18th-century church and chamber music, and opera. She performs and records with many of Europe's prestigious historical and traditional musicians, directors, orchestras and baroque opera companies. Siobhán is unusual in placing herself at the confluence where ‘historical’ meets ‘traditional’ performance practice. For more than 25 years, she has been exploring the lost repertory, playing techniques and idiom of the early Irish harp. This is also the subject of her PhD (Middlesex University, London). In 2015, Siobhán located a lost historic Irish harp, and in 2016 she commissioned the first ever 3D laser scan of a musical instrument at The National Museum. Sharing her discoveries is now at the heart of her artistic and educational work. Siobhán is an Occasional Lecturer at the School of Music, University College Dublin. With her ensemble, The Irish Consort, she has released Music, Ireland and the Sixteenth Century on Destino Classics, UK, shedding light on a neglected century in Irish music. This was one of The Irish Times’ top five international Classical Music picks of 2021. Building community, supporting artists, and encouraging research is at the core of the HHSI’s work under her direction.