Mark Hindley has been appointed as Chorus Master RTÉ Philharmonic Choir for the next three seasons commencing this September 2012 until May 2015. A former chorister at Lichfield Cathedral, Mark initially qualified as a doctor before his passion for music led him into a career as a conductor, choral trainer and organist. He has held Chorus Master positions with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Leeds Philharmonic Society and has worked with many other choirs including Huddersfield Choral Society, Northern Sinfonia Chorus, Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus and the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union. He is the Music Director of the Wordsworth Singers and combines his choral work with a busy schedule as a freelance organist and harpsichordist. In the coming season, he will be preparing the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir for work with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra including Verdi's Four Sacred Pieces, Beethoven Symphony No.9 in D minor, and Bach's St. John Passion for performance on Good Friday 2013.

Mary Amond O'Brien has agreed to extend her current contract as Choral Director RTÉ Cór na nÓg for a further two performance seasons until May 2014. A native of Carlow and a former international athlete, Mary began her choral career in 1997 with the formation of Aspiro, a children's choir based in Carlow. Mary has studied with many renowned choral specialists including Dr Doreen Rao (American Choral Music Experience Institute for Choral Teacher Education) and James Jordan (Westminster College USA) and is a skilled choral specialist, composer and arranger.

In a fresh initiative, Lynsey Callaghan has been by selected by RTÉ Performing Groups in partnership with the Association of Irish Choirs to be Conductor in Training 2012/14. Lynsey began her musical training at Kylemore College, Ballyfermot and is currently studying Music Education in Trinity College, Dublin. In 2012 she completed an Erasmus term at the Zoltan Kodaly Pedagogical Institute of Music, Hungary, where she studied with Katá Kiss. As well as singing with the Trinity Singers, the Irish Youth Choir and the Irish Youth Chamber Choir, she has conducted the Boydell Singers and currently conducts two school choirs. In July 2012, she conducted Eric Whitacre's Water Night during the Irish Youth Choir concert given in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
Lynsey will have the opportunity to work with both Mark Hindley and Greg Beardsall (Conductor, Irish Youth Choir) over the next two years and hopes to further develop her passion for conducting, training and music education.

Further information can be obtained by contacting Ms. Lesley Bishop, Choral and Chamber Music Officer, RTÉ Performing Groups on lesley.bishop@rte.ie