SINEAD HAYES
Irish Conductor
.jpg)
SINEAD HAYES
Royal Philharmonic Society Women's Conducting Programme (Excel) 24-25
Conductor: Royal Irish Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra
Orchestral conductor Sinead Hayes brings a unique creative perspective to conducting symphonic and opera repertoire, forged from a decade of conducting the music of living composers in Ireland and further afield. A natural storyteller, she is passionate about sharing the magic of orchestral music with audiences from every walk of life, inviting deep and meaningful engagement with the music, its stories and its performers through her performances and her blog The Creative Conductor.
Her approach to conducting? Music first. Always.
The 2025/26 season sees Sinead refocus on conducting orchestral and contemporary operatic repertoire, with returns to Ulster Orchestra (BBC Invitation Concert), Irish Doctor's Orchestra, Wexford Sinfonia, Dumbworld Opera and Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble. She will also work for the first time with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as part of a RPS Conducting Day (January 2026).
Last season saw Sinead return to Ulster Orchestra for multiple projects as well as to Irish National Opera (Guest Chorus Master on Rigoletto), Dumbworld Opera and the Fews Ensemble. She also worked as assistant conductor with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, assisting conductor Dinis Sousa on Tippett's A Child of our Time.
She is in her fifth season as conductor of the Royal Irish Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Excel Women’s Conducting (WoCo) Programme 2024-25, working with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Newcastle in two WoCo projects in 2025.
23/24 was Sinead's 10th and final season as conductor of Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble (HRSE), Northern Ireland's professional new music ensemble, with whom she premiered over 70 new works by Irish and international composers.
She has worked with all the major professional orchestras in Ireland including the RTE Concert Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra & National Symphony Orchestra. Her debut CD with Ulster Orchestra featuring the music of Greg Caffrey, was released in May 2024 on the Divine Art Label. Sinead was also principal guest conductor of Galway's professional string orchestra the Luminosa String Orchestra for two seasons.
In opera she has conducted productions for Northern Ireland Opera, Irish National Opera and Opera Collective Ireland. She has also been invited as guest conductor with the Orquestra do Algarve, as well as working in masterclass with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Bochumer Symphoniker, Argovia Philharmonic, North Czech Philharmonic and others.
Sinead completed her MMus in conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music, winning the Mortimer Furber prize and her BMus in violin and composition at City University, London, winning the Worshipful Company of Musicians prize. She has participated in masterclasses with Johannes Schlaefli, Sylvain Cambreling & Sir Roger Norrington among others.
She was one of three finalists in the Interaktion Conducting Workshop, Berlin, chosen by the players of the Critical Orchestra Berlin, whose players are drawn from the Berlin Staatskapelle and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras. She has worked as assistant conductor to James Lowe (Halle Harmony Orchestra), Alex Ingram (British Youth Opera), André de Ridder (Irish National Opera) and others.
As a violinist, Sinead is active as a chamber musician, playing with ConTempo Quartet, Newry Chamber Music, and with Vespera (Baroque Ensemble).
Sinead also holds a Masters (MSc) in structural engineering from Imperial College, London.
Sinead is very grateful to be supported by the Marten Toonder Music Bursary from the Irish Arts Council for 2025/26.
VIDEOS
Conducting, Project & Interview Videos
