Founding Directors
Aedín Cosgrove, Co-Founder Emeritus
Gavin Quinn, Co-Founder
Board Members
Dearbhla Collins (Chair)
Dr. Barry Houlihan
Declan Meade
Fiona Murphy
Zhaohui Wang
Willie White
Dearbhla Collins – appointed to the Board 2024
Pianist Dearbhla Collins is vocal coach at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and also Artistic Consultant at the National Opera Studio, London. She is Artistic Director of the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition.
She is highly regarded internationally as a song pianist; she enjoys collaborating with singers who have a real passion for song, among whom are Sir Thomas Allen, Sir Simon Keenlyside, Benjamin Appl, Tara Erraught and Anna Devin. These performances include recitals throughout Ireland, the UK and Europe. She has also toured the US with Tara Erraught and given masterclasses and recitals in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan in China.
Dearbhla founded Dublin Song Series in 2013 and continues to curate it in partnership with the National Concert Hall and the Hugh Lane Gallery. Recent 2024 recitals include concerts with Paul Murrihy and Anthony Leon.
Dearbhla is guest vocal coach at Mascarade Opera Studio, Florence and the Young Artist Programme at the National Opera House, Warsaw. She regularly plays for projects and masterclasses with Dame Ann Murray, Brigitte Fassbaender and Marie McLaughlin. She has given masterclasses at RNCM, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Opera North, Leeds.
As Artistic Director of the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, Dearbhla has worked alongside such guest jury members as Richard Bonynge, Peter Carwell, Ileana Cotrubas, John Gilhooly, Sergei Leiferkus, Marie McLaughlin and Christina Scheppelmann.
Dearbhla was a member of the Board of the National Concert Hall, Dublin from 2010 – 2015, having previously served two terms on the Board of Culture Ireland. She is currently Chair of Pan Pan Theatre Company. In October 2017 Dearbhla was awarded an honorary doctorate for her services to music in Ireland from the National University of Ireland.
Dr. Barry Houlihan – appointed to the Board 2024
Dr. Barry Houlihan is an Archivist at University of Galway, specialising in archives of theatre and performance. Archive projects include archives of Druid Theatre, Pan Pan Theatre Company, Corn Exchange Theatre Company, Galway International Arts Festival, as well as a number of curated digital theatre exhibitions and oral histories. Barry has published the monograph Theatre and Archival Memory: Irish Drama and Marginalised Histories 1951-1977(Palgrave MacMillan 2021), edited the book Navigating Ireland’s Theatre Archive: Theory, Practice, Performance (Peter Lang Press, 2019) and is currently editing the collected essays of Thomas Kilroy (Forthcoming, Liverpool University Press). Other articles and chapters on Irish theatre, literature, archives, and memory have featured in Irish University Review, New Hibernia Review, Review of Irish Studies in Europe, among others. Barry is a regular contributor to RTÉ Brainstorm and is general editor of the journal, Irish Archives, published annually by the Irish Society for Archives.
Declan Meade – appointed to the Board 2024
Declan Meade is founding editor and publisher of the literary magazine, The Stinging Fly, which he established in Dublin in 1997. Under The Stinging Fly Press imprint, he has edited and published short-story collections by writers such as Colin Barrett, Kevin Barry, Claire-Louise Bennett, Wendy Erskine, Nicole Flattery, Danielle McLaughlin, Sean O’Reilly, Philip Ó Ceallaigh and Cathy Sweeney. He has also edited several anthologies, including These Are Our Lives (2006), Let's Be Alone Together (2008), Beyond The Centre (2016), Stinging Fly Stories (with Sarah Gilmartin, 2018), and Dublin, Written in our Hearts (2025).
Fiona Murphy - appointed to the Board 2025
Associate Director at Edelman Ireland, Fiona supports a multi-industry client portfolio, partnering with C-level executives on corporate reputation and cross-market-driven communications to enhance our client's commercial objectives. Experienced in complex client issues, Fiona is recognised for her ability to understand client needs, craft forward-thinking strategies rooted in insights, and lead implementation teams across practices and disciplines. Fiona has earned PRCA awards for excellence in public relations.
Before her career in public relations, she enjoyed a successful career as an opera singer of renown working internationally with opera houses such as the Houston Grand Opera, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, and more. She has performed in concert with, among many others, the L.A. Philharmonic, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra. She has performed at the Lincoln Center, the Barbican London, the Hollywood Bowl and other well-known venues.
A graduate of University College Dublin (BA), Fiona also holds a Master’s Degree in Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania), a Diploma in Public Relations from the Fitzwilliam Institute and the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII), and Diploma in Legal Studies (Level 8 Degree) from the Honorable Society of King’s Inns in Ireland, and is currently a Barrister-at-Law candidate. Fiona is a Non-Executive Board Member of Opera Collective.
Zhaohui Wang – appointed to the Board 2022
Zhaohui Wang is a theatre, film and television producer based in Beijing with more than twenty years’ experience in international co-production. She has a BA in Drama from La Trobe University Melbourne. She worked as a Production Manager and Director for several programs for various China Central Television Channels. From 2005, she joined Beijing Rosat Film and Television Company in charge of international co-productions. Credits include: Bleed (2017, co-pro with US), John Rabe (2008 co-pro with Germany), Destiny (2007, co-pro with Brazil). Independent films include: Cry of the Birds (directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang, 2022). In 2006 she started working on theatre projects. She collaborated with Pan Pan on The Playboy of the Western World (2006), Fight the Landlord (2009), and The Seagull and Other Birds (2013, China). Other credits include: Five Fools (2015, a bilingual Children’s musical), Ballae (2017, Korean Musical).
Willie White – appointed to the Board 2026
Willie White is a producer and programmer currently working in research and innovation at TU Dublin, where he connects the university’s researchers with enterprises in the audio-visual, creative and cultural sectors. In 2024, he founded Goldsmith Pictures, an independent production company that secured Screen Ireland development funding in 2025 for Meadhbh McHugh’s adaptation of the Hugo Hamilton novel, Every Single Minute. His current film projects include producing shorts written by Martin Warde (directed by Aaron Chalke) and by Kate Heffernan (directed by Mo O'Connell).
Willie served as Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Dublin Theatre Festival from 2011 to 2024. Previously, he spent nine years as Artistic Director of Project Arts Centre, overseeing a multidisciplinary programme of theatre, performance, music and visual art. Earlier in his career, he worked as a researcher and Assistant Producer for RTÉ Television on programmes such as The View and Later with John Kelly. He holds an MPhil in Irish Theatre Studies from Trinity College Dublin, an MA and BA in English from University College Dublin and a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Producing from TU Dublin. He is currently an MBA candidate at TU Dublin