November 2008 Winter Conferring to Honour Award-Winning Music Director

Over 800 students will graduate from across the five colleges at NUI Galway on Friday, 28 November 2008, at the University's winter conferring ceremonies. Ms Audrey Corbett, musical director of Galway Baroque Singers will also be honoured with a Master of Music (honoris causa). The choral group will give a special performance in her honour at this ceremony. Audrey Corbett s musical career began in Dublin where as a pianist and organist she won many of the major awards at the Dublin Feis Ceoil, among other festivals. Her interest in choral music first manifested itself when, as a music student at UCD she created the St. Stephen s Singers, an ensemble which was acclaimed both nationally and internationally on winning the BBC Radio competition Let the Peoples Sing in 1971. Since moving to Galway, Audrey has contributed significantly to the flourishing of choral music, with the formation of the Corrib Singers, an award winning female voice choir, the Galway Boys Choir, and the Galway Baroque Singers. She is in frequent demand as a choral adjudicator and director of workshops, seminars and masterclasses and was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Concert Hall for five years. Recognised for her outstanding contribution to music in the West of Ireland, Audrey was a recipient of the Galway County Arts Award in 1997. She conducted the annual Messiah for all in the National Concert Hall in 2001. In the same year, Audrey formed a new chamber choir, 'Sunus', with whom she has had considerable success, winning the overall Irish choir of the Festival at the Cork Choral Festival in 2003 and competing in the International Competition there in 2004. Speaking in advance of the ceremony, President of NUI Galway, Dr James J. Browne, commented: "NUI Galway has a strong tradition of commitment to the arts and artistic life, within the University, the local community and beyond. We are delighted to honour Audrey Corbett for her outstanding contribution to music and the development of choral singing in Galway". Students will graduate throughout the day from the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences; College of Engineering and Informatics; College of Business, Public Policy and Law; College of Science; and the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies. Among these will be the first students to graduate from the MA in Language Planning, the first third-level course in this discipline to be offered in Ireland and in Europe designed to provide opportunities for professional and academic development for both recent graduates and for practitioners already working in a professional capacity in a language planning context or in a related sector. -Ends-