William Halpin

D.M.A., M.Mus. (UConn), B.Mus., LTCL, Dip. Mus. Teach (UCD)

Head of Conservatory of Music and Drama 

William Halpin has been a conductor and senior lecturer in flute at DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama since 1980. He was the first conductor of DIT Wind Ensemble, which he formed as a Concert Band in 1980. He has also been a conductor with the Dublin Youth Orchestra, the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble and has been a director of both the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble. William has been at the forefront of many of the important events at DIT. He was production manager for The Magic Flute in 1982, conductor for Rogers and Hammerstein’s The King and I in 1985 and Jerome Kern’s Showboat in 1990.
In January of 1996 he was one of the conductors at a special gala concert of the combined orchestra’s of DIT Conservatory of Music and the Royal Irish Academy of Music which took place in the National Concert Hall, Dublin. Also in September1996, he conducted the DIT Concert Band on a successful tour in the US.

William spent the academic year 1997-98 at the University of Connecticut, where he studied with Jeffrey Renshaw. At UConn he conducted the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, University Chorus, and University Symphony Orchestra. In May 1998 he was conferred with the degree of Master of Music. On his return to Ireland he re-constituted the Concert Band as the DIT Wind Ensemble and founded DIT Chamber Winds. In November 1999 he organised the Frederick Fennell Band Festival in DIT and brought the eminent conductor Frederick Fennell to Dublin for the event. Also, in November 1999 he was assistant conductor to Franz Paul Decker for the very successful concert performance of Ravel’s opera L’Enfant et le Sortileges in the National Concert Hall. In March 1999 William conducted the first performance by DIT Chamber Winds in the John Field Room at the NCH. In March 2000 DIT Wind Ensemble performed in the National Concert Hall in a special concert to celebrate the first 20 years of the DIT Concert Band/Wind Ensemble.

In 2003 William was one of the main inspirations behind DIT’s very successful Night at the Opera series in the National Concert Hall. In the first two concerts of the series he conducted staged highlights from Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro, Carmen and Rigoletto. This was followed in 2005 with Barber of Seville. Willy spent the years 2004-2007 on sabbatical from DIT during which time he returned to the University of Connecticut where, in May 2007, he was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts. 

In October 2008 he was conductor for the DIT production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, the Conservatory’s first full-scale opera production in 25 years.