Annalisa Monticelli
Annalisa is a tutor of Masters in Musicianship (MMus) at RIAM.
She started her professional coaching career in 2006, working for the Montalto Opera program in Montalto Ligure (Italia) coaching and performing the Operas Cenerentola, Barbiere di Siviglia, La Boheme and Rigoletto and accompanying masterclasses by Wagnerian Soprano Rebecca Turner (USA) among others. Since then, her main focus has been working with English speaking singers as a vocal and language coach.
After spending three years in the USA, in 2014 she moved to Ireland to work as Italian coach and accompanist for the Royal Irish Academy of Music, freelance repetiteur and piano teacher. Since then, she has appeared in all major Irish venues and has released several CDs (the latest "A Bluebird Singing" with soprano Louise Martyn). In the same year, following an invitation from American conductor Dr John Ratledge, she became accompanist and vocal coach for the Bassi Brugnatelli International Symposium for singers and conductors in Italy. She also worked as Italian coach and accompanist for Opera productions in Ireland, including the recent INO productions of Cenerentola and Boheme, gave piano and vocal masterclasses and recitals in Johor Baru (Malaysia), accompanied master classes for the Institut StimmKünst in Zurich (Switzerland) with Soprano Vera Wenkert and began “Azulejos,” a new concert series that focuses on Latin American music.
Recent engagements include a recording with INO and the RTE Concert Orchestra (20 Shots of Opera), recorded in the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin and a duo recital for the Hugh Lane Gallery as part as their concert series.
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 8 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.