Viola (Young Artist)
2023
Kevin O’Loughlin was born into a musical family in Dublin in 2002. He is an Ad Astra Performing Arts Scholar at University College Dublin where he studies Economics and Finance. Currently on exchange in Toronto, he is studying with Theresa Rudolph at University of Toronto. Back home in Ireland, he studies viola with Simon Aspell of the Vanbrugh Quartet at the Cork School of Music and has also studied viola with Rosalind Ventris and violin with Michael D’Arcy at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. In Ireland’s premier music festival, the Feis Ceoil, he has won all Junior and Senior Viola categories, along with the Junior Rosebowl for Strings and the Arthur Catterall, Elsner and Arthur Darley Cups. In 2019, Kevin was awarded the John Pollard Bursary at the RIAM.
He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland from 2016 to 2021, where he was leader of the viola section. Kevin has played in orchestras both at home and abroad, including being invited to play with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and leading the viola section of the Junior Festival Orchestra at the Verbier Music Festival, Switzerland. Kevin has participated in masterclasses and performed with a wide array of musicians and pedagogues, such as Daniel Rowland, Patrick Rafter, Garth Knox, Tim Vogler, Yuval Gotlibovitch, Scott St John, Richard Ireland and Lars Anders Tomter. He has been invited to participate in many chamber music courses, festivals and academies such as MusicWorks, Bournemouth, the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, and Barry Douglas’ Camerata Ireland Academy. In June 2022, he gave a recital as Rising Star at the Killaloe Music Festival. Kevin is very grateful to be supported by Music Network Ireland’s Music Capital Scheme.