In autumn 2009 Bury Choral Society was delighted to appoint Sinead Hayes as our new Musical Director.

Originally from Galway in Ireland, Sinead Hayes completed her masters in conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in September 2009, winning the Mortimer Furber Conducting Prize. While at RNCM she studied with Clark Rundell, Sir Mark Elder, Mark Shanahan and Baldur Bronnimann. Sinead completed her BMus at City University, London in June 2008 and has participated in several professional masterclasses.

Sinead was assistant conductor with British Youth Opera for their summer 2011 production of Le Nozze de Figaro and was one of eight young conductors invited to participate in the Orkney Conductor’s Course in June 2011, where worked with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and London Sinfonietta.

Sinead’s rehearsals and concerts combine meticulous preparation with a good humoured approach to help the players achieve their best in performance. She is principal conductor of the Amaretti Orchestra, assistant music director of Stockport Youth Orchestra, music director of Bury Choral Society and held the position of associate conductor of the Halle Harmony Youth Orchestra, featured in the Channel 4 documentary “Orchestra United”. Since moving to Manchester she has worked with the RNCM ensembles as well as with New Bristol Sinfonia, Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra and Liverpool Mozart Orchestra.

In October 2010 she was invited to participate in the first Ruhr Conductor’s Academy in Bochum, Germany where she worked with Sir Roger Norrington, Sylvain Cambreling and Steven Sloane. As part of the academy she was one of three participants chosen to conduct a rehearsal of Carmen with Essen Opera and Essen Philharmonic in the Aalto Theatre Essen.

Sinead’s work with non-professional orchestras has resulted in some outstanding performances, bringing joy to audiences and players alike. In the past season, as well as her work with BCS and Stockport Youth Orchestra, she has appeared in four concerts with the Orquestra do Algarve, Portugal, as well as in concerts with the North Czech Philharmonic, Teplice, Bochumer Symphoniker, Westmorland Orchestra and Sheffield Symphony Orchestra.

She has also worked with the Essen Philharmonic and the Ensemble and Orquestra do Cadaques, Spain. She was one of four British based conductors to proceed to the final 17 of the Cadaques Conducting Competition in 2010.