Tony Finnegan
Director/Actor/Adjudicator
Tony, is a graduate from The Guildford School of Acting and Dance.
In 2014 Tony was the creative director for two “TV Specials” filmed by the BBC for PBS, America. Tony is proud of the fact that one of the Specials (The Music of Northern Ireland) won 4 Emmy’s in the 2015 awards ceremony in the USA. He has adjudicated the Waterford International Festival and had an extraordinarily successful trip to Buxton, adjudicating the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. Tony has been associated with winning the G and S Festival four years in a row – performing in all four winning shows and co-producing the three Festival Productions, (Dublin) shows and directing the winning Pirates of Penzance for New Lyric Opera Company in the 4th year.
In 2017 he made his debut in Ireland’s National Theatre - The Abbey - directing FLYNN – a world premiere - in The Peacock Theatre. In 2018 Tony was thrilled to adjudicate the 25th International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate.
He is Ireland’s most prolific director of youth projects and workshops; and is highly sought after to direct and lead children’s musical theatre performances throughout the country. He has been directing the Grand Opera House, (Belfast) Summer Youth Project for the last 10 years – working with approximately 240 children per two-week period, to produce high-quality productions.
Tony has recently finished a production of Little Mermaid in Shannon and his future work includes directing CryBaby (Shannon), Grease (Grand Opera House, Belfast), 9 to 5 (Grand Opera House, Belfast), My Fair Lady (An Tain) and adjudicating West Waterford Drama Festival for the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland. He has recently finished a run of Annie in the National Concert Hall, Dublin where he played Daddy Warbucks alongside Rebecca Storm as Miss Hannigan.
Annalisa Monticelli
Pianist and singer Annalisa Monticelli is a highly sought-after musician who has performed internationally as a soloist and with ensembles and orchestras. Her passion for music began at a very young age, and she has dedicated her life to mastering a wide range of musical genres. Annalisa studied classical and jazz piano, voice, conducting, musicology, chamber music, composition, and music education in Italy, Argentina, and the USA.
During her time in the USA, she discovered a passion for musical theatre and worked actively as a pianist for both third-level students and professional productions. She later moved to Ireland, where she worked as a collaborative pianist at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and eventually became an Italian and vocal coach. In 2015, she was appointed Lecturer-Repetiteur at Dundalk Institute of Technology, where she also served as Program Director for the Music and Musical Theatre program. Annalisa played a key role in the development and success of the Musical Theatre program, bringing her passion for the genre to a third-level institution.
Since moving to Ireland, Annalisa has performed at major venues across the country, collaborated with the Irish National Opera as an Italian coach, and released several CDs. In recent years, she has performed and taught opera, diction, chamber music, piano, Irish art song, and improvisation in masterclasses and workshops in Spain, Italy, Portugal, England, Scotland, Switzerland, Poland, France, Malaysia, and the USA.
Annalisa is also the pianist, musical director, and co-arranger for Ensemble Amarcord, currently performing The Morricone Experience, a successful production touring Ireland, as well as the recently launched The Hans Zimmer Experience. She has been the pianist for the Irish-Latin band Baile an Salsa since 2018 and is a co-founder, pianist, and singer for the Dublin-based quintet Hibertango. An eclectic musician, Annalisa has over twenty years of experience performing and coaching chamber music, opera, musical theatre, tango, jazz, and Latin American music, both as a pianist and a singer.