Róisín McGrath
Music Director & Arranger – Harmania Indie Choir
Róisín McGrath is the Music Director of Harmania Indie Choir, an experienced educator, arranger, performer, and community musician specialising in facilitating inclusive, accessible and inspiring choral experiences within her community.
She holds a Bachelor of Music (UCC) , a Master’s in Community Music (UL), and a Postgraduate Certificate in Choral Conducting (DCU) , and has over 25 years’ experience teaching with the County Cork School of Music where she teaches a range of instruments and singing to all ages and levels from primary school children all the way up to third level music students. Alongside her teaching career, Róisín is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist (piano, fiddle, whistle, and voice), and has performed and recorded with traditional/folk bands throughout Ireland and Europe.
After more than ten years teaching music using conventional methods, Róisín became disillusioned with traditional approaches to imparting musical knowledge. This led her to pursue a Master’s in Community Music, where she trained in participatory facilitating and teaching methods. These ap
proaches differ greatly from mainstream music education, focusing on accessibility, inclusion, and learning through active participation, and allowing music to be experienced by everyone regardless of prior training or confidence..
Her Master’s thesis explored the social, emotional, and wellbeing benefits of singing in a choir, a belief that lies at the heart of Harmania Indie Choir. Recognising that many choir members have little to no formal music education, Róisín places strong importance on having the expertise to lead groups using participatory teaching techniques that nurture ones natural musicality while also building confidence, connection, and musical skill.
While perfection is not the goal, central to Róisín’s philosophy is the belief that community music should never be “dumbed down.” she believes it is her responsibility as a leader and facilitator to guide each group she works with towards achieving their full potential and takes a bespoke approach to each group she leads.
Róisín in currently on a career break from teaching with the Co. Cork School of Music allowing can fully focus on leading her choirs here in Waterford . While she is passionate about her teaching job in Cork, she believes that effective leadership requires presence, care, and focus, and that spreading oneself too thinly can result in diminished leadership quality and a reduced experience for choir members.
In addition to directing the choir, Róisín is an accomplished arranger, with approximately 90% of Harmania’s repertoire consisting of original arrangements written by her. These arrangements include many genres, including indie, dance, club, pop, folk, and rock, ensuring that no song is out of bounds! Her arrangements are carefully crafted to challenge singers musically while remaining accessible to those with little or no formal musical training. Increasingly sought after by choirs internationally, Róisín has chosen—for now—to keep her arrangements exclusive to Harmania Indie Choir, helping to shape their distinctive and recognisable sound.
Most importantly though, Róisín’s leadership style is firmly grounded in the belief that the process of learning should be fun and engaging. She places strong emphasis on imparting solid singing skills and vocal technique in an enjoyable, accessible way, believing this to be key to learning, retention, and ensuring that participants leave each rehearsal with a genuine sense of achievement and pride.
As Róisín firmly believes:
“It must be fun and engaging enough to allow the participants to be fully present , forgetting the outside world while also being suitably challenging to allow and facilitate the participants to progress.”
This principle underpins everything at Harmania Indie Choir.
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