Aidan Curran
Music Director
Aidan Curran is a veteran of the professional music scene in Ireland for over 20 years. With a wealth of experience in live performance and recording, Aidan has performed all over the world and worked with some of the finest musicians and composers.
Since 2012, Music Education has become a primary focus in Aidan’s career. He has previously held a position as Vice Chair on the Board of Directors for Access Music Project; a charitable organisation providing accredited education, support, & professional development for unemployed musicians. With qualifications in Teaching, Music Performance, Music Theory, Sound Engineering, & Ethnomusicology, Aidan has pioneered his own version of the School of Rock Method based in Galway City. We are delighted to announce him as the Music Director to establish our flagship School of Rock Venue in Ireland.
Aidan has most recently been employed as Musician Educator with Music Generation and has devised and rolled out many of the Music Education Programmes currently being delivered in Galway City and County. Aidan also provides workshops in various music disciplines at several 3rd Level Educational Institutes, while continuing to perform and record with Ireland’s top artists.
Lucy Lennox
General Manager
Meet our General Manager, Lucy!
Since she picked up her first guitar at 9 years of age, music has always been at the heart of her life. Lucy has performed music to a high level, completing her Bachelor of Music majoring in classical guitar and then continued studying completing a Masters of Primary and Secondary Teaching degree. Lucy was recipient of the Top Music Educator award for her University. After graduating, Lucy worked as the head Classroom Music Teacher in a Primary School in Melbourne, Australia. She taught a classroom music programme to over 800 students where she ran choral groups and was involved in many productions and performances including directing an annual theatre production.
Lucy was nominated to become a board member of the Australian Society of Music Educators (ASME) Victoria and was elected as Deputy Chairperson in 2020. Her work in ASME involved the advocacy and support of music education programmes across the state and she presented many workshops. More recently, Lucy was co-author of a published music education journal article about teaching music throughout the pandemic.
Since moving to Ireland, Lucy has since been working as Musician Educator with Music Generation Galway and Music Generation Dublin City planning and delivering music programmes in national school settings.
Brid Lyons
Keyboard Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Bríd Lyons has recently graduated from BIMM Institute Dublin, where she has been honing her craft as a songwriter and musician. She is an accomplished performer, having gigged at many prestigious venues throughout Ireland with the band Syrens and continues to perform in a solo capacity.
Bríd has been singing for as long as she can remember. Her love of music and performance began at an early age when she was introduced to the piano. She then discovered guitar in her mid teens and has loved it ever since. Bríd is excited for the opportunity to share that passion and pass her skills on to her students.
Ryan McClelland
Drum Teacher
Having recently graduated from BIMM Dublin, Ryan has been busy playing with a range of different acts in Ireland. Growing up with a rock/prog background & recently specialising in hip hop/jazz/breakbeat, he is comfortable within any genre.
Ryan has an extensive list of notable gigs & has recently joined pop duo Siights on a UK tour opening for rising star Griff. He is also versed in live electronics/sampling and how to apply this behind the drum set.
Ryan is a firm believer in guiding a student down whatever musical path they are passionate about, strongly encouraging creativity and experimentation along the way - and most of all prioritising having fun!
Nigel Clarke
Guitar Teacher
Nigel Clark was guitarist and arranger with Scottish chart band Hue & Cry. The band had four top twenty hits, and opened for U2 at Glasgow SECC, Simply Red at the G-Mex Manchester, and Madonna at Wembley Stadium.
Nigel has toured the world, working with Moya Brennan of Clannad, soul music superstar Gloria Gaynor, jazz diva Carol Kidd, the giants of European jazz guitar; Jan Akkerman and Philip Catherine and American jazz icons Steve Swallow and Carla Bley. He has also worked with multi award-winning cinema composers Craig Armstrong and Brian Byrne. Born in Scotland, Nigel began his professional career at the age of eighteen in London.
He now lives in Dublin, Ireland and we at School of Rock are very proud to have him teach our guitar students of intermediate and advanced ability levels.
Charlie McCarthy
Bass Guitar Teacher
School of Rock Galway alumnus Charlie McCarthy is a BIMM Dublin Bass graduate.
With 10 years of experience playing in many different genres and bands, Charlie is skilled in a wide range of bass styles, but particularly enamoured with Funk, Hip-Hop, Noise Rock, and Math Rock. Charlie has a wide range of experience in live performance, having toured throughout Ireland with several prominent bands and played such venues as Whelan's, Roisin Dubh and The Workman's Club.
A firm believer in the School of Rock method - Charlie follows a teaching philosophy of “Do less; Say more”, meaning that as a bassist, you are in a unique position to drive and give power to a track without having be overly virtuosic. He aims to teach this approach to all his students, while also hoping to be able to bring them to virtuosity and technical prowess.
Kevin Maxwell
Guitar Teacher
Kevin Maxwell is an experienced guitarist and teacher from Dublin. Kevin has been playing guitar for over 15 years and has been working in the music industry since 2016.
Kevin has toured Ireland extensively with numerous event and agency bands along with working as a session musician for various acts, taking the stage with artists such as Craig Cooney, Saibh Skelly, Shollah, Aaron J, Micah and the Lighthouse Church house band.
Kevin has a BA honours degree in commercial modern music from BIMM Dublin. He is currently working towards his Teaching Diploma from LCME. With his extensive industry knowledge, Kevin aims to show his students the essential techniques from complete beginner, all the way up to coaching college level musicians.
Colm Geraghty
Drum Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Colm is a drummer from Perrystown, Dublin. Having been self-taught from the age of 5, Colm began taking lessons with Liam O'Driscoll of the Irish Army Number 1 band at the age of 13, learning multiple percussion instruments in a brass band setting.
After completing his formal grades with Trinity College London, Colm began forming his own bands while still in school. Highlights include gigs in Barcelona, Slane, and The Grand Social in Dublin. Colm is currently studying for a B.A. in Commercial Modern Music and regularly performs with several different artists in the Dublin live scene.
Colm believes in an individual-based approach to teaching, tailoring each lesson to the individual student. With an overall goal of inspiring his students to be confident and creative, lessons focus on learning through musical application.
Stephen Davis
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Stephen is a BIMM Dublin Guitar graduate, and a 20+ year veteran of the live music scene. With his own bands and as a musician-for-hire, he has played over a thousand shows across Ireland and the UK and is well-versed in musicianship.
Stephen is a fan of many genres but is predominantly a rock guitarist who has studied advanced guitar techniques employed in genres like Neo-Classical and Progressive Metal.
Stephen’s teaching approach is entirely student-focused. Their goals, well-being, enjoyment, and musical tastes are of paramount importance. His ethos in teaching and learning is that a relaxed, safe, encouraging, and happy learning environment is key to ensuring each student realises their full potential.
Adam Nealon
Drum Teacher
Adam is a professional drummer and BIMM Dublin graduate from Mayo. He began gigging around the country with his band almost as soon as he picked up the drumsticks and has since performed with other notable acts such as Pixie Cut Rhythm Orchestra and Babylamb.
Surrounded by rock and metal music from an early age, Adam naturally leaned toward these styles but his time at BIMM broadened his influences to include Latin and EDM in his original projects.
Adam’s teaching ethos centres around three points:
1. Nurturing good technique to create a solid foundation.
2. Cultivating, and drawing from the student's own taste in music.
3. And finally, the philosophy that “there are no mistakes in music”, i.e. the only errors are the ones you acknowledge to be. Some of the greatest moments in musical history were total accidents, so if it sounds good anyway, it’s not a mistake, it’s music.
Conor Kinsella
Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Conor Kinsella is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer from Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. With a musical background in classical piano that inexplicably turned into an obsession with emo and alternative rock of the 990s-2000s, Conor draws musical inspiration from everywhere he possibly can. He holds a master’s degree in Music and Media Technologies and an undergraduate degree in Music and English Literature from Trinity College Dublin. He was the chairperson of the Trinity College Dublin Music Society from 2020-2021, for which he was presented with a Dean’s award for his work.
Conor's experience as a musician is hugely varied, having recorded in Ireland’s iconic Windmill Lane Studios with his band SPEAKERS and also performed at venues across the country including The Grand Social, The Soundhouse, Whelan’s, Fibber Magees, The Lighthouse, Pharmacia as well as a festival performance at the renowned Sea Sessions in Bundoran, Co. Donegal.
Finally, Conor’s experience as a session musician has also brought him around the country to festivals including Kaleidoscope, KnockanStockan, Indiependence, and most recently, playing with HAWKETHEBAND supporting Imelda May at Puca Festival in 2022. Conor’s approach to music education is based upon a simple philosophy that above anything else, learning an instrument should be a fun experience for students. Whether this is accomplished through the development of instrumental techniques or simply learning new songs, the enjoyment of the student is paramount to each lesson.
Vitória Campos
Rookies Teacher
Vitória is a tutor in our Rookies program! Born on the beautiful island of Florianópolis, Brazil, Vitória comes from a very music-oriented background. Her entire family is made up of musicians who play a variety of instruments, with one jamming session after another!
Vitória is self-taught on the guitar and ukulele. When she moved to Ireland, Vitória decided to further her music knowledge and skills resulting in her receiving a Diploma in Professional Musicianship specialising in Vocals.
She is also part of a church community called Dublin Vineyard where she performs each month to large audiences. Vitória has worked in Primary schools teaching music to children of all age groups.
Michael Cleary
Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Michael began playing the piano at 8 years of age, playing by ear. He then worked with a teacher whose teaching ethos made lessons very enjoyable. With his teacher moving away, Michael attended another music school, which was very heavily focused on theory. He gave up lessons because of this when he was 11, as there was no fun element to his lessons now.
Michael continued to play throughout secondary school. It was around the age of 15 he decided to teach himself guitar as he took a liking to more rock and indie types of music. He played for 3 years until he had his first guitar lesson in BIMM, where he studied. Here he experienced real professional scenarios such as, working within studios, playing for venues such as Wheelan's, the Button Factory and Sín é, as well as worked for BIMM as a house band musician for student exams. Michael now currently works within the wedding industry both as a solo act and as an instrumentalist in a band.
Today Michael enjoys teaching all ages, but particularly beginners. His experience of having to teach himself for the majority of his music life drives him to help students learn in a way where it is both enjoyable and effective.
Phoebe Dunning
Singing Teacher, Studio Coordinator
Phoebe has a B.A. Honours Degree in Commercial Modern Music and a Diploma in Professional Musicianship from BIMM Dublin. She has been singing and performing from a young age. She has performed numerous venues across Dublin in solo work, choirs and musical theater.
Phoebe's teaching philosophy is that singing is rooted in fun and is all self-expression. She covers all genres of singing from rock to soul to blues. She believes in creating a space where singers can advance technically and confidently by setting goals they can aspire to and where they can also discover the absolute joy and release of singing.
Phoebe will help you get the key vocal techniques and concepts down, while creating a fun space that focuses on students’ own interests and desires.
Sarah Moran Nolan
Singing Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Rookies Teacher
Sarah is our vocals, guitar, and Rookies tutor. She has a Joint Bachelors Degree in Music and Drama Studies, a Bachelor's Degree in Music, and a Master's Degree in Musicology specialising in Music and Culture from University College Dublin.
Sarah found a love for singing and the performing arts at a young age and understands the joy it brings, and she hopes to share that with her students! She has performed in both amateur and professional productions in various venues across Ireland and Northern Ireland such as The Gaiety, The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, The National Concert Hall, and the Lyric Theatre.
Most recently, Sarah featured in an original work at the 2023 Scene and Heard Festival at Smock Alley Theatre. Sarah's lessons are entirely student-focused. She reinforces that your voice is unique to you and will guide you to harness the confidence to trust your musicianship.
Patrick Clarke
Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Patrick has been playing the guitar and performing in bands from an early age. Growing up in County Down, Patrick moved to Dublin in 2018 to attend BIMM Dublin and pursue a career as a musician.
After graduating from BIMM with an honours degree, Patrick continues to work as a session guitarist with a wide range of solo musicians and cover bands with whom he has played venues such as Vicar Street, The Grand Social, The Button Factory, The Academy, and has appeared on RTE multiple times. He also has a keen interest in music theory and composition and plans to go on to study for a master's in Music Education.
Patrick feels that learning an instrument should never feel like a chore therefore he likes to implement student-based learning where basic and advanced skills can be taught with the student’s interests in mind. This could mean focusing teaching around a genre the student likes or teaching techniques based on a student’s favourite song.
Patrick has a background in Blues and Rock music although his current interests lie in Jazz and Orchestral music. He also enjoys playing and teaching Pop and Funk guitar.
Patrick also teaches Bass, Ukulele, and Beginner Piano.
Ian Smyth
Keyboard + Piano Teacher, Drum Teacher
Ian is our keyboard + piano tutor and drums tutor. He is a multi-talented composer with 30 years of experience. Ian is a graduate of Berklee College of Music Boston and studied piano repertoire and technique with Dublin’s RIAM. Ian’s philosophy of teaching installs a love of music no matter what genre or era a student wishes to study.
Ian got his first drum kit at the age of 9 and quickly progressed to working with various bands and sessions. He came to the attention of Paiste Cymbals in Dublin who asked him to do drum clinics and through this, he met the legendary drummer Dom Famularo who quickly became his mentor and inspired Ian to enroll at Boston’s Berklee College of Music to study Drums & Film Score. He graduated with a degree in Film Score and Composition. He returned to Dublin to compose music for film and adverts full-time, to teach, and to perform.
Ian has composed many film scores including the award-winning feature film, Rewind, The Wonderful Story of Kelvin Kind, and Man of Fire. In 2021, Ian released his own debut album, Gaze Boketto-Day in a Life. His many television credits include Seacht (2008), the first Irish language drama for the BBC, the animated children’s series, Schrödinger’s Cat (2007), and two seasons of the science series Investigators for RTE.
Ingrid Kelehan
Singing Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher, Rookies Teacher
Ingrid is our vocals, beginner keys and rookies tutor from Dublin. Growing up, she had a keen interest in music and singing, picking up the guitar to accompany herself and singing in various choirs and choral groups. She graduated with an honours degree from BIMM Dublin, specialising in vocals in 2021 and has since gone on to pick up piano and has interned in the “Music for Me” early years music programme at the Waltons New School of Music. She also gigs regularly as part of a cover duo and as a backing vocalist for Irish artist Réylta.
“My favourite thing about working in music is that I always feel like I’m evolving, and kept on my toes whilst also getting to create.”
“I believe that music can provide a creative outlet for people of any age whilst also harnessing self-discipline and teamwork. I am passionate about vocal science and music theory and putting them into the context of music that a student enjoys to really help them grow as musicians.“
Ben Roe
Drum Teacher
Ben is a drum tutor at School of Rock Dublin Ireland. Ben has been playing drums since the age of 12 and has played in a variety of rock and metal bands.
After teaching one-on-one lessons, Ben realised his passion for teaching and went on to study Commercial Modern Music at BIMM.
After graduating from BIMM, Ben played with more original bands and wedding bands. He also expanded on his teaching experience and began teaching at a large music school in Dublin.
A highlight of Ben’s career was playing a residency in the USA for over two years, where he played to audiences five or six times a week.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ben kept busy with online recording and when things reopened, he was straight back into full-time gigging. Ben plays with the Hit Machine Drummers who are Ireland's most popular and in-demand drumming group.