“Elaine Kelly is a discovery, tracing the musical lines with exactitude”
LA Times
Two-time GRAMMY-nominated Irish conductor Elaine Kelly is known for performances of striking clarity, warmth, and expressive musical insight, bridging the operatic repertoire with today’s most adventurous new music. As the Los Angeles Times observed, “Irish conductor Elaine Kelly is a discovery, tracing the musical lines with exactitude.”
Kelly served as Resident Conductor and Chorus Director of Irish National Opera from 2021 to 2024, where she was a central artistic force across both new and established repertoire. A passionate advocate for contemporary opera, she has conducted and premiered works by Jennifer Walshe, Donnacha Dennehy, Emma O’Halloran, Tom Lane, David Coonan, Amanda Feery, Evangelia Rigaki, Anna Mullarkey, among others. She conducted the world-premiere double bill TRADE / Mary Motorhead (Emma O’Halloran) at New York’s PROTOTYPE Festival, followed by performances with LA Opera and a nationwide Irish tour. The live recording received a five-star review in BBC Music Magazine and has been recognised with a 2026 GRAMMY nomination.
In summer 2025, Kelly conducted Jennifer Walshe’s MARS, receiving widespread acclaim for its fearless contemporary vision and innovative musical language. Earlier highlights include conducting nine new works for Irish National Opera’s internationally praised 20 Shots of Opera (2020), a nationwide tour of Maxwell Davies’ The Lighthouse (2021), Dawn to Dusk: The Moon is Listening (Richard Taylor) with Garsington Opera, and the world premiere of Akathist (Benedict Sheehan) at Trinity Church Wall Street, New York. The latter was recorded for album release and received a 2025 GRAMMY nomination.
Alongside her work in contemporary opera, Kelly is deeply versed in the standard operatic repertoire. She has conducted Il barbiere di Siviglia with Longborough Festival Opera, Faust and Così fan tutte with Irish National Opera, and Hänsel und Gretel with Cork Opera House. Her repertoire also includes works by Strauss (Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Salome), Rossini (La Cenerentola, William Tell), Mozart (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Puccini (La bohème), Beethoven (Fidelio), Bizet (Carmen), Barry (Alice’s Adventures Under Ground), and Donizetti (L’elisir d’amore, Maria Stuarda). She has worked as assistant conductor with Opéra National de Bordeaux and Nouvel Opéra Fribourg.
Kelly has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Ahmed Adnan Saygun Symphony Orchestra, Cork Concert Orchestra, and Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra. She is former Music Director of the Dublin Symphony Orchestra and the University of Limerick Orchestra, and in 2014 won First Prize at the inaugural ESB Feis Ceoil Orchestral Conducting Competition.
