Catriona Ryan, flute - section leader

When did you join the National Symphony Orchestra?

That’s like asking a lady her age! I’ll just say I joined directly after graduating… it wasn’t today or yesterday!

Where did you study?

I began privately with Danette Milne, then studied with the legendary Doris Keogh at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and with another illustrious teacher, Trevor Wye, at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Why did you choose to play your instrument?

Look at it! it’s stunning! That, and hearing James Galway’s Annie’s Song… I even bought the single!

What do you enjoy most about being in the NSO?

Having the good fortune to sit slapbang in the middle of the giant vortex of beautiful sounds as they’re being produced. Feeling each note pulsating through the stage gives me such an enhanced and incredibly privileged perspective.

Tell us your favourite NSO story/ memory so far.

Until recently I would have said being soloist in Mozart’s D major Flute Concerto in 2020, our first concert back after the pandemic. I was bouncing off the walls with happiness to be onstage playing again. An equally beautiful experience was playing Fauré’s Fantaisie last year; the audience response was so warm and enthusiastic.

What made you decide to pursue a career in music?

I ultimately owe my career to a local curate in our parish as a child. Luckily for me, he felt that I had talent and persisted in telling my parents so, eventually handing them an ad for flute lessons from the local paper! He is now a monk in Glenstal Abbey. Thank you Fr. Fintan Lyons!

If you weren’t a musician, what would you most like to be?

A sculptor!

If you could have dinner with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?

It might involve time travel for some, but to have Sir David Attenborough, J.S. Bach, Michael Harding, Hilary Clinton, Tommy Tiernan, Chris Hadfield, Marcel Moyse (flute players will know), Barack and Michelle Obama, and maybe Dom Pérignon in the same room? That would be some shindig! Of course, the person I would most like to have dinner with again would be my lovely Dad.