Ciarán McAuley
Conductor

Biography

An Irish musician with footprints in Africa, Asia and the North. 

Biography

Born in Zimbabwe to an Irish family, Ciarán grew up in Africa, studied in Europe, trained in the USA and worked in Asia. His musical journey has led him from voice to conducting, via teaching, music criticism and work as a souffleur. Currently he resides in Finland with his family.

Positions

Ciarán was the Resident Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. He was Assistant Conductor to BBC SSO and Kiel Opera and has held conducting fellowships at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Deutsche Dirigentenforum and at Tanglewood.

Awards & Prizes

Ciarán was a finalist in the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award and a prize winner in the Toscanini Conducting Competition and Deutscher Dirigentenpreis. He also received the Ricordi Conducting Prize and Bryden Thomson Trust Award.

Guesting

Guest conducting has led him to work with among others Camerata Salzburg, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Norrköpings Symfoniorkester, Orkest van het Oosten, RTÉ NSO and the Houston Symphony.

Repertoire

Ciarán’s repertoire covers all epochs, with a bias for music of the late romantic period and the English Musical Renaissance. He is fascinated by contemporary repertoire and has premiered works by the likes of Marco Stroppa and Detlev Glanert. 

Studies

He began conducting whilst at the University of Bristol and thereafter studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Clark Rundell and at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste with Johannes Schlaefli. He attended masterclasses with the likes of Bernard Haitink, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and David Zinman.


All rights reserved © Ciarán McAuley 2024