Marita Kerin PhD recently retired from the School of Education at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and remains actively engaged in academic and outreach initiatives. She is a co-founder of the Arts in Education Research Group, (AERG) established in 2010 with colleagues Profs Carmel O’Sullivan and Michael Grenfell, reflecting their commitment to fostering innovative educational practices.

Marita’s research interests centre on the longevity and transformative learning that emerge from professional partnerships facilitated through co-teaching. One notable example involves first-year undergraduate music education students serving as expert musicians, co-teaching with primary teachers as expert educators. This model's enduring success over a decade inspired the creation of Quavers to Quadratics, an interdisciplinary educational outreach programme. Co-founded with physicist Dr. Shane Bergin and the National Concert Hall’s Learning and Participation team, Q2Q has operated for over ten years with funding from Science Foundation Ireland and the ESB. It engages pairs of undergraduate music and
physics students as subject experts, facilitating informal, interdisciplinary, interactive learning experiences for primary school children, with their teachers in the role of education expert.

Marita’s broader research explores co-teaching's impact across primary, post-primary, and higher education, emphasizing its role as a mechanism for professional development and sustained educational partnerships. Her interests also extend to artistic biography and currently, alongside colleague Dr. Kerry Houston, examining the long-term impact of TCD chapel chorister participation.  

A frequent presenter at international educational and music education conferences, Marita has enjoyed co-publishing with colleagues from AERG contributing to the fields of education and music pedagogy.

Bio to follow

Edmond Gubbins (B.Ed., M.Ed., Ph.D., T.T.C.T.) lectures in music education at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. He has previously held posts as lecturer in music education and school placement associate at the Marino Institute of Education in Dublin, as well as a primary school teacher. He is also currently a visiting research fellow at Trinity College, Dublin and a member of the Arts in Education Research Group (AERG).

His doctoral research, which examines informal and non-formal learning in music education within primary generalist teacher practice in Ireland has received funding from the Irish Research Council, Mary Immaculate College, and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation. He is the 2020 winner of the Eda Sagarra medal of excellence for being the top-ranking postgraduate scholar in the domain of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences under the Irish Research Council’s Government of Ireland funding.

Edmond’s research interests include: primary music education, informal learning, Musical Futures, and generalist teacher practice in music education.

June is the Music specialist between the CRC Special Schools in Dublin, where she enjoys developing whole school music programmes from pre-school to school leavers. Using Orff and Kodály inspired approaches, June promotes active music-making using voice, instruments and using technology creatively. She directs two school choirs performing regularly, recently with Peace Proms and actively looks for collaborations and these include Sing Ireland, Irish National Opera and MaSamba School. June is a musicianship and instrumental tutor and has worked with IAYO and Artane School of Music as well as her own music studio. She holds a BA (Hons), MPhil, PDGE and a MEd (Music Education). Research interests include lifelong learning and music performance, informal learning in formal musical spaces, special education and active music making. June is keen to further her research in music education.

Bio to follow

Shannon Burns is a founding co-Director of the Redemptorist Centre of Music, which provides access to music tuition for adults and children throughout Limerick.

Shannon was an Irish Research Council PhD scholar at the Irish World Academy, University of Limerick and lectured in music theory, performance studies and music notation software on undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in the Academy. Her current PhD in arts practice research titled, Transmitting Music Theory: A Performative and Pedagogical Exploration focused on the use and creation of a performance based music theory curriculum for third-level students who come from a non-classical musical tradition. She has presented at both international and national conferences including the Arts Practice Research conference held in Texas, USA, October 2015. Her M.A. in ethnomusicology, Banding Together: research focused on the social identity and participation in a community brass and reed band.

Shannon is also an active performer on both saxophone and clarinet. She has performed in master classes and concerts with the Bob Mintzer, West Point Jazz Band, Eugene Rousseau, Col. Arnold Gabriel, Ken Edge, Irish Youth Wind Ensemble, University of Limerick Orchestra, the Blue Monk Quartet and the Irish Symphonic Wind Orchestra.

Frances Burgess is senior lecturer in music in St Mary’s University College, Belfast, having worked in initial teacher education for seventeen years. Her research interests included music teaching and teachers in post-primary schools, musical identities, and creativity and the arts in Primary schools. She has published collaboratively with research teams investigating musical provision in teacher education, and integrated arts in Ireland.

Gwen Moore BMusEd, MA Mus Ed, PhD, ALCM, GRIAM, PFHEA is Associate Professor at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick. Prior to her appointment at MIC, Gwen taught music and guitar at post-primary and third level. Gwen has been involved in several funded projects in music education and in teaching and learning and is published widely in edited books and international peer-reviewed journals. She serves on a range of international editorial boards such as: International Journal of Music Education, Music Education Research, Journal of Popular Music Education and Irish Educational Studies. Gwen is the fourth Irish person to be elected to the Executive Board of International Society for Music Education (ISME) since its establishment in 1953.

Avril McLoughlin is an Irish traditional fiddle player and a doctoral scholar awarded from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at University of Limerick. For the past ten years, she has been teaching music theory to undergraduate and postgraduate students at the Academy. Avril’s interest in literacy, orality, notation and music theory in Irish traditional music has led her to pursue doctoral studies in this area. Entitled “Bridging the gap between theory and practice: locating music theory and its pedagogies for Irish traditional musicians”, her research examines how music theory is used for the performance and community based practices of Irish traditional musicians in addition to exploring pedagogies that engage music theory and practice.

Avril has presented her research at a number of national and international conferences including the International Council for Traditional Music Conference, Thailand (2019), International Society for Music Education, Azerbaijan (2018) and Traditional Tunes and Popular Airs, London (2017). In addition to this, she has taken part in a number of Erasmus+ exchange programmes including visits to BerZeit University and The Edward Said Conservatory, Palestine, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and Tbilisi State University, Georgia.

Assistant Professor of Music Education in the School of Arts Education and Movement, Institute of Education (DCU), Marie-Louise teaches undergraduate and graduate music education modules within the primary and secondary education degree programmes (BEd., BRelEd. & PME Post-Primary) while supervising Masters and Doctoral students. Marie-Louise previously worked as a post-primary Music and Irish teacher in a variety of settings, (including the establishment of string and brass programmes), she is a passionate advocate of the transformative effects of public schooling and arts education. Marie-Louise founded , “Music For Fun” which enjoyed great success. As well as being a Fulbright scholar, Marie-Louise was a Commissioner for the International Society for Music Education (ISME’s, Music in Schools and Teacher Education, MISTEC) and currently serves on the Music Generation Laois Steering Committee. Marie-Louise combines a life of teaching and research while also maintaining a busy schedule as a viola player (orchestral/chamber music), pianist (accompanist) and traditional Irish fiddle player.

Link to Biography

Susan McCormick obtained a PhD in Musicology at Queen’s University Belfast in 2015. Much of Susan’s PhD research was carried out in Germany where she spent some time as DAAD award holder in the Bach-Archiv in Leipzig. Susan has worked for many years as a post-primary music teacher, and is a regular contributor to press and radio in relation to Leaving Certificate Music. Susan is Assistant Professor of Music Education in Trinity College Dublin, where she leads the Bachelor in Music Education and Master in Education (Music) programmes. Her research combines her interests in musicology and music education, and includes multiple bass chorales, Johann Christian Kittel, the pedagogy of J.S. Bach, initial teacher education, and the accessibility of music education in Ireland.