conductor
Equally at home in standard operatic repertoire, Kelly conducted Faust (Gounod) and Così fan tutte (Mozart) with INO and has worked on Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier and Salome (Strauss), Cenerentola and William Tell (Rossini), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart), La bohème (Puccini), Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (Barry), Fidelio (Beethoven), Carmen (Bizet), L’Elisir d’Amore and Maria Stuarda (Donizetti). Elaine has also worked as assistant conductor with Opera National de Bordeaux and Nouvel Opéra Fribourg.
Kelly has guest appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Cork Concert Orchestra, Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra and was Music Director of the Dublin Symphony Orchestra and the University of Limerick Orchestra.
In 2014, Kelly won 1st prize in the inaugural ESB Feis Ceoil Orchestral Conducting Competition.
GRAMMY-nominated Irish conductor, Elaine Kelly, held the position of Resident Conductor and Chorus Director of Irish National Opera (INO) from 2021-2024.
An avid champion of contemporary opera, she has conducted works by Donnacha Dennehy, David Cooney, Amanda Feery, Evangelia Rigaki, Anna Mullarkey and last year conducted the double-bill, operatic world premiere by Emma O’Halloran in the PROTOTYPE Festival in New York and later with LA Opera before a nationwide Irish tour the following year. She conducted nine new works in INO’s internationally praised 20 Shots of Opera in 2020 and a nationwide tour of The Lighthouse (Maxwell Davies) in 2021.
Most recently, Kelly has conducted Dawn to Dusk: The Moon is Listening (Richard Taylor) with Garsington Opera, UK and in November 2023, conducted the world premiere of Akathist (Benedict Sheehan) in Trinity Church Wall Street, New York, recorded for album release in 2024 receiving a GRAMMY nomination.
GRAMMY-nominated Irish conductor, Elaine Kelly, held the position of Resident Conductor and Chorus Director of Irish National Opera (INO) from 2021-2024.
An avid champion of contemporary opera, she has conducted works by Donnacha Dennehy, David Cooney, Amanda Feery, Evangelia Rigaki, Anna Mullarkey and last year conducted the double-bill, operatic world premiere by Emma O’Halloran in the PROTOTYPE Festival in New York and later with LA Opera before a nationwide Irish tour the following year. She conducted nine new works in INO’s internationally praised 20 Shots of Opera in 2020 and a nationwide tour of The Lighthouse (Maxwell Davies) in 2021.
Most recently, Kelly has conducted Dawn to Dusk: The Moon is Listening (Richard Taylor) with Garsington Opera, UK and in November 2023, conducted the world premiere of Akathist (Benedict Sheehan) in Trinity Church Wall Street, New York, recorded for album release in 2024 receiving a GRAMMY nomination.
Equally at home in standard operatic repertoire, Kelly conducted Faust (Gounod) and Così fan tutte (Mozart) with INO and has worked on Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier and Salome (Strauss), Cenerentola and William Tell (Rossini), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart), La bohème (Puccini), Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (Barry), Fidelio (Beethoven), Carmen (Bizet), L’Elisir d’Amore and Maria Stuarda (Donizetti). Elaine has also worked as assistant conductor with Opera National de Bordeaux and Nouvel Opéra Fribourg.
Kelly has guest appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Cork Concert Orchestra, Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra and was Music Director of the Dublin Symphony Orchestra and the University of Limerick Orchestra.
In 2014, Kelly won 1st prize in the inaugural ESB Feis Ceoil Orchestral Conducting Competition.
Akathist
Benedict Sheehan’s sublime new oratorio, Akathist, was recorded last fall at New York’s historic Trinity Church with The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Artefact Ensemble, NOVUS NY and others. The groundbreaking work weaves together medieval chant, Anglo-American hymns, gospel, and jazz – offering a unique perspective on sacred music and a radically constructive response to injustice and evil. Akathist asks us to meet the world’s brokenness with gratitude and healing, and thereby to transform ourselves.
Calendar
Ahmet Adnan
Saygun Orchestra
Izmir, Turkey
March, 20th
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Longborough Festival Opera, UK
June 2025
Mars (J. Walshe)
Irish National Opera
July 2025
Calendar
Ahmet Adnan Saygun Orchestra
Izmir, Turkey
March, 20th
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Longborough Festival Opera, UK
June 2025
Mars (J. Walshe)
Irish National Opera
July 2025
Conducting Experiences
Operatic
Mary Motorhead (O’Halloran) ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish Nationwide Tour ⠂2024
TRADE (O’Halloran) ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish Nationwide Tour ⠂2024
Salome (Strauss) ⠂Asst.Conductor ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2024
William Tell (Rossini) ⠂Asst.Conductor ⠂Nouvel Opéra Fribourg ⠂2023
La Boheme (Puccini) ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2023
Faust (Gounod) ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2023
The Moon is Listening (Taylor) ⠂Conductor ⠂Garsington Opera, UK ⠂2023
Cosi fan tutte (Mozart) ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2023
Mary Motorhead (O’Halloran) ⠂Conductor ⠂LA Opera ⠂2023
TRADE (O’Halloran) ⠂Conductor ⠂LA Opera ⠂2023
Rosenkavalier (Strauss) ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2023
Old Ghosts (Rigaki) ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2023
Mary Motorhead (O’Halloran) ⠂Conductor ⠂Beth Morrison Productions, New York ⠂2023
TRADE (O’Halloran) ⠂Conductor ⠂Beth Morrison Productions, New York ⠂2023
William Tell (Rossini) ⠂ Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2022
The First Child (Dennehy) ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2022
Horse Ape Bird (Coonan) ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2022
Maria Stuarda (Donizetti) ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2022
L’Elisir d’amore (Donizetti) ⠂Asst. Conductor ⠂Opéra National de Bordeaux ⠂2022
Carmen (Bizet) ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2022
The Lighthouse (Maxwell-Davies) ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2021
Fidelio (Beethoven) ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2021
Alice’s Adventures (Barry) ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2021
Elektra (Strauss) ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2021
A Thing I Cannot Name ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2021
La Bohème (Puccini) ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2021
20 Shots of Opera ⠂Conductor ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2021
Die Entführung aus dem Serail ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2021
Seraglio, the Mini-Series ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2021
Cenerentola (Rossini) ⠂Asst. Conductor & Chorus Director ⠂Irish National Opera ⠂2020
Agrippina (Handel) ⠂Asst. Conductor ⠂Opera Collective Ireland ⠂2015
ABL Aviation Opera Studio ⠂Studio Conductor ⠂2020/21
ABL Aviation Opera Studio ⠂Studio Conductor ⠂2019/20
Choral
Akathist ⠂Conductor ⠂Trinity Church Wall Street, New York ⠂2023
Orchestral
Guest Conductor ⠂National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland ⠂2024
Guest Conductor ⠂Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra ⠂2024
Guest Conductor ⠂National Concert Hall Orchestra, Dublin ⠂2023
Guest Conductor ⠂Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra ⠂2023
Guest Conductor ⠂National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland ⠂2022
Guest Conductor ⠂RTÉ Concert Orchestra ⠂2020
Musical Director ⠂University of Limerick Orchestra ⠂2019-2021
Musical Director ⠂Dublin Symphony Orchestra ⠂2017-2019
Guest Conductor ⠂RTÉ Concert Orchestra ⠂2016
Guest Conductor ⠂Cork Concert Orchestra ⠂2016
Asst. Conductor ⠂Irish Chamber Orchestra ⠂2015
Guest Conductor ⠂RTÉ Concert Orchestra ⠂2014
