Carlow College of Music celebrates milestone anniversary
Soprano Eva Kavanagh will perform at the 35th anniversary concert of Carlow College of Music
CARLOW College of Music is about to celebrate a milestone anniversary by hosting a concert in Cobden Hall at Carlow College on Wednesday 1 October.
Majella Swan, owner and founder of the music college, set it up 35 years ago and since then she and her tutors have taught and nurtured generations of classical musicians.
The concert is taking place during the upcoming bilingual festival Féile an Fomhair, which runs from 27 September to 6 October. The concert will feature soprano Eva Kavanagh. who will be accompanied by Gillian Daly on piano and Natalia Connolly on oboe.
Eva (21) is currently completing her Bachelor of Music in vocal performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where she studies with Professor Kathleen Tynan and is coached by Dearbhla Collins. In 2025, she made her operatic debut in the title role of Rosina in Haydn’s – her first full opera and leading stage role.
Despite her young age, she already has an impressive CV and is a multiple prize winner at Feis Ceoil, Ireland’s national classical music competition.
Gillian enjoys a diverse career as a pianist and teacher and is currently head of music at Rathdown School, Dublin. She holds a master’s in music in piano from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she was awarded the Principal’s Alex Menzies Prize, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Trinity College Dublin, graduating with first-class honours and a commendation of excellence.
An experienced accompanist, Gillian was a staff pianist at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Junior Department from 2016 to 2020. Before joining Rathdown School, Gillian was head of keyboard at a leading school in Melbourne, Australia, and prior to this taught in Scotland.
A former student of Majella’s at Carlow College of Music, Gillian was delighted to return there as a piano teacher from 2010 to 2015.
Natalia is a 21-year-old oboist from Carlow. She started her musical studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) when she was aged five, where she developed her love of music. In 2023, she completed the diploma for music performance and teaching in RIAM and is now going into her third year of the Bachelor of Performance degree.
Natalia has a love of baroque music and plays the baroque oboe under Andreas Helm. She has played with IBYO in 2024 and 2025. She plays with the RIAM philharmonic orchestra during the academic year. She has most recently played for Albrecht Mayer during a masterclass in June 2025.
Natalia was a former piano student of Majella’s and taught and played oboe with Carlow Youth Orchestra.
This is a free concert, but all donations received will be donated to Éist Cancer Support Service. The concert starts at 7.30pm.
