Music Lessons

Harp Lessons

The ICC are pleased to offer an intimate group learning class in harp tuition. The class is open to complete beginners and post beginners and will explore a range of beautiful traditional pieces each term.

About Tara Viscardi

Hailing from the Beara Peninsula in the South-West of Ireland, Tara Viscardi is an Irish traditional, baroque and classical harpist. First prize winner of the 2021 London Camac Harp Competition, Tara has performed and recorded in venues including Wigmore Hall, Abbey Road Studios, the Irish Cultural Centre, the London Irish Centre, the Irish Embassy London, Áras an Uachtaráin, the National Concert Hall Dublin and the Mansion House in London and Dublin. She has featured at festivals including the 2023 Cairde na Cruite International Festival for Irish Harp, Bloomsbury Festival, Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, 13th World Harp Congress Hong Kong, Harp on Wight International Festival, 2022 Dutch Harp Festival World Music Competition and the 2023 Wales International Harp Festival, where she was a prize winner in the World Music Competition. A graduate of the Royal College of Music London, Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado Milan and TU Dublin Conservatoire, she holds a Master of Music in Performance (Distinction), Postgraduate Diploma in Harp Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Performance (Honours).

Tara was a recipient of the 2022 Arts Council of Ireland Agility Award, which enabled her to commence studies in the Italian baroque triple harp with Dr Siobhán Armstrong, and was featured at the 14th World Harp Congress, Cardiff performing her original compositions for traditional harp and flute paired with chamber music by 19th and 20th century female composers. Passionate about outreach and education, she is Administrator for Irish Heritage, the harp teacher at Junior King’s School Canterbury and she has been the harp tutor at the Irish Cultural Centre since September 2023.  In 2021, Tara’s early music/folk group Nobody’s Jig held the Wigmore Learning/Royal Academy of Music Fellowship, delivering workshops and performances as part of the Wigmore Learning outreach programme.

Flute Lessons (Online)

The ICC are pleased to offer a online class in flute tuition. There are opportunities in these sessions for group practice and playing. We encourage anyone interested in learning a new skill to join.

Classes are suitable for adults and children aged 8+.

Specific lessons will be held in person and will be agreed on in class.

Complete beginners looking to join this term are recommended to join in September. 

Singing

Our singing classes focus on the harmony of group singing using Irish songs and ballads. If you are interested in finding out how to use your voice safely as a singer and explore your musicality, this is the class for you. It is also a great way to meet people and there will be lots of public performance opportunities!

Claire McHugh, originally from County Galway, holds a BA in Popular Music from the Cork School of Music. She has worked extensively with community theatre groups across Ireland, being a Musical Director in to productions such as All Shook Up (Aghada Centre Theatre Group), 9 to 5 (UCC Musical Society), Urinetown (Galway University Musical Society), Into The Woods and Legally Blonde (TradingFaces).

An experienced music educator, Claire has taught guitar, ukulele, piano, singing, and music theory at Centre Stage School and Sonatina Music Academy to students of all ages and abilities. Her passion for community engagement extends to her work with choirs, including the One Voice Choir in Cork, the Silvermines Folk Choir in Tipperary, and the Clarinbridge Choir in Galway.

Pearse O'Donoghue is a London based performer from Cork City, Ireland. Pearse has a varied career as an actor and musician. Most recently they finished a tour of Chrimblesense, a sensory theatre show for children in SEND schools and hospices throughout the north of England. Over the last ten years Pearse has appeared as Chad in All Shook Up, Roger in RENT and Eddie Birdlace in the Irish premiere of Dogfight: The Musical. In addition to musical theatre Pearse has been a part of several celebrated new works about the history of Ireland such as Dockers, Katy Barry: Queen of the Coal Quay and The Legacy of Loss.

Pearse also works in schools as a theatre and music practitioner, where they help children of all ages build confidence and communication skills through drama and music. This includes workshops for young people and long term Speech & Drama teacher roles in both primary & secondary schools. Pearse has also worked with third level institutions as a freelance musical theatre practitioner in various roles such as choreographer for MTU Cork School of Music’s award winning production of Godspell.