Deborah Kelleher is Head of Musicianship at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, with responsibility for the RIAM’s Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate degrees in Performance, Music Education and Composition as well as the Access and Diploma courses and the junior theory grades. Deborah’s educational career includes a Bachelor’s degree in pure music from Trinity College, Dublin, a Masters degree in Musicology from University College Dublin and a Masters degree in Business Administration from Dublin City University. Before taking up her post at the RIAM, Deborah worked as a senior lecturer at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and also as a teaching fellow in University College, Dublin.
Deborah is also one of the Academy’s vocal coaches, having established herself as one of Ireland’s most sought after piano accompanists and chamber musicians, appearing in recital and broadcast with Ailish Tynan, Celine Byrne, Helen Kearns, Mairéad Buicke, Tara Erraught and with Opera Theatre Company’s Young Artists over the past number of years.
Deborah has also given a number of public lectures on the history of music within the Academy entitled “Bravo!”, “Voyage Fantastique” and “Musical Chairs”. Deborah has given public lectures for Rough Magic Theatre Company, the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and the Abbey Theatre.In 2008 Deborah was appointed the RIAM International Coordinator, a job that entails organising Erasmus Exchanges and forming links with employers and educational institutions around Europe.
Deborah has devised and runs outreach and professional development courses for musicians and students outside the Academy, such as a theory workshop for practical teachers, a piano course for teachers, a course on how to teach the Junior Certificate syllabus, a course dealing with the music entrance tests for third level colleges and a revision course for the Leaving Certificate music examination.