Mark Duley is a choral director and organist from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He was the chorus master of the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir.

Biography

Duley is a first class honours graduate of

Auckland University The University of Auckland (; Māori language, Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the Unive ...

. Post-graduate studies in organ brought him to the North German Organ Academy and to the

Sweelinck Conservatorium The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, where he was a pupil of Jacques van Oortmerssen. He then worked for time in England and was organist of

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

, before moving to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1992 to take up the post of organist and director of music at Christ Church Cathedral. During his eleven years there, the cathedral gained an international reputation for its music. He directed the choir on many CD recordings, broadcasts on the

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

networks, and on tours to the UK,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and New Zealand. He is the artistic director of the

Irish Baroque Orchestra The Irish Baroque Orchestra is an early music ensemble based in Ireland. Irish Baroque Orchestra is Ireland’s only professional period instrument orchestra. It was established in 1996 by Mark Duley and Thérèse Timoney. The artistic director ...

, which he founded with Thérèse Timoney in 1996.

RTÉ Philharmonic Choir

Duley was the chorus master of the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir for fifteen years, standing down in 2011. He has worked with the

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO; previously known as Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra) is the largest professional orchestra in Ireland. Housed at the National Concert Hall, D ...

and

RTÉ Concert Orchestra The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is a professional radio orchestra in Ireland and is part of RTÉ, the national broadcaster. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra has grown from a small studio-bas ...

both as chorus master and organist. Other work with Irish choral ensembles and festivals include the National Chamber Choir of Ireland,

Opera Theatre Company Irish National Opera is one of Ireland's largest arts organisations and presents opera in Dublin, on tour across Ireland and internationally. Irish National Opera was created from a merger of the Opera Theatre Company (OTC) and Wide Open Opera in ...

and the

Wexford Festival Opera Wexford Festival Opera () is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November. Festival origins, growth and development Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966 Tom Walsh, an avid o ...

Resurgam

Duley founded his professional chamber choir, Resurgam, in 2003. It is based in Dublin and is acknowledged to be one of the country's finest choirs. A particular feature of the choir's work is the presentation of the great sacred repertoire of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

periods, frequently in partnership with Irish Baroque Orchestra, with whom the group enjoys a special and ongoing relationship. Resurgam has performed in many venues throughout Ireland and also in the UK, and has appeared at several major Irish festivals, including the Cork International Choral Festival, Ardee Baroque and the Galway Early Music Festival. The choir has worked with many internationally renowned conductors, including Professor John Butt,

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conducting, conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on Authentic performance, period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and ...

, Robert Howarth,

Laurence Cummings Laurence Alexander Cummings (born 1968) is a British harpsichordist, organist, and conductor. He is music director of the Academy of Ancient Music. Biography Cummings was born in Birmingham and educated at Solihull School, Christ Church, Oxford ...

, Christian Curnyn and

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

, as well as its own founder-director Mark Duley. Projects include performances of

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer. Among the most performed and recorded composers of late 20th-century classical music, he is described by musicologist Ivan Moody (composer), Ivan Moody as a ...

's ''Choir Concerto'' at Dublin City Hall (May 2011), de Mondonville's ''Grands Motets'' and

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

's ''

Dixit Dominus Psalm 110 is the 110th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The said unto my Lord". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, th ...

'' with Irish Baroque Orchestra directed by Christophe Rousset (August 2011) and ''Songs of Farewell'', a four-date tour of the West Coast of Ireland (October 2011).

Pipeworks

Duley is artistic director of Pipeworks (formerly the Dublin International Organ & Choral Festival). He took up the position for the 2002 festival. His artistic directorship has been notable for strong artistic programming, opening up the organ to wider audiences (providing improvised live soundtracks to silent films for example), developing the Dublin International Organ Competition and raising awareness of Ireland's organ heritage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duley, Mark Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand classical organists New Zealand male classical organists RTÉ Performing Groups University of Auckland alumni Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni 21st-century organists 21st-century male musicians