Mairead Hurley studied piano with Rhona Marshall at the RIAM and music at University College Dublin, graduating with a BMus degree. Further studies have included the Repetiteur’s Course at the London National Opera Studio and a First Class Honours MMus degree in Performance at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama where she also worked as a repetiteur for many years.
Mairead has worked for Opera Ireland every season since 1996 and with a repertoire of some sixty operas to date has also worked for Wexford Festival Opera, Opera Theatre Company, Opera Northern Ireland and Lyric Opera. Her work with RTÉ includes the Proms, its Naxos recording of Aida, miscellaneous recitals and regular work with both the National Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Mairead performs regularly in recital throughout the country and has also officiated at many music festivals and masterclasses. Opera Ireland’s annual series of vocal masterclasses of 2001 culminated in a vocal recital in UCL Concert Hall with the international baritone, Sherill Milnes. She also officiated for Gerhard Markson’s very successful series of conducting classes in conjunction with the NSO and Dublin Masterclasses.
As part of a DIT/Opera Ireland partnership, Mairead was Music Director for Mozart’s Da Ponte Triolgy presented in the Gaiety Theatre from 2001-2004 and again in 2006 with Dieter Kaegi, Director.
In May of 2008 Mairead was appointed to the staff of the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she now works as a repetiteur.