Presto Project Team

linda collins: Music Director

Linda is a piano, flute and recorder teacher and also a fully qualified and accredited music therapist. She has been working as a Flute and Recorder teacher in Presto since 2017, and started as Music Director in May 2024.

She has almost 20 years' experience in teaching students of all ages and levels, and has worked in various healthcare and educational settings through her music therapy work.

Linda had a love of music from a young age, and was heavily involved in youth orchestras and choirs over the years. She graduated with a B(mus) Hons from NUI Maynooth, along with a Masters in Music Therapy from the University of Limerick.

She partakes in regular professional development through seminars, conferences and short courses including training in Singing for Lung Health, Sing to Beat Parkinson’s, Neurologic Music Therapy, and the IAYO’s Orchestral Conducting Course.

Michelle Woods: Programme Administrator

Hello all, my name is Michelle Woods. I attended Sandymount High School and then on to the Ballyfermot College for Further Education. Before I took up my role at St. Ultans in 2016 I was an office administrator.

My role as Programme Administrator for the Presto Project is to support the music director with the day to day running of the programme. This includes supporting children to engage in the programme by liaising with their parents and teachers in order to address any barriers to attendance.

I also work with The School Completion Programme at St. Ultans as a project worker. In this role just as it is with Presto Project I support children referred to the programme to attend, participate and complete school so that they have every advantage going forward in life.

I have been very lucky to have had the opportunity to partake in continuous professional development in the areas of youth mental health, motivational interviewing and the Botvins Lifeskills Programme all of which I have brought back to St.Ultans and applied while working with Presto Project.

I sincerely believe that if a child attends school every day and partakes in extra-curricular activities such as music tuition they will learn the skills they need to get through life not only from their teachers but from their peer groups too.

EDUCATION IS OUR PASSPORT TO THE FUTURE!

Robert Campbell: Cello/Double bass Tutor

Through his teens and early twenties, Rob played electric bass in a number of Irish bands, appearing at venues and festivals around the country and abroad. Personal highlights from this period included a concert at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, and featuring on Dave Fanning’s ‘The Last Broadcast’ recorded at the O2 Arena (3 Arena) and broadcast on RTE television in 2012.

In 2010 he commenced classical music studies at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama (TU Dublin) studying double bass under Waldemar Kozak and Maeve Shiel, and cello under Arun Rao. He has since performed with the DIT Symphony Orchestra, Dublin Orchestral Players, the Humanitarian Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonua.

Rob teaches cello, double bass, guitar and bass guitar at a number of other music schools around Dublin. He is a permanent member of Irish acts Lowli and Pine the Pilcrow and has featured as cellist, bassist and guitarist on a number of recordings with other Irish artists.

niamh huethorst: French Horn/Trumpet Tutor

Niamh Huethorst is the Brass/Theory Teacher at Presto Project since 2021. She teaches trumpet, horn and theory online through Presto.

She is also full time permanent member of Janáček Philharmonic in Czechia. She won the audition for Horn Tutti in 2022 and has the responsibility of 2nd, 3rd and 4th horn there. Prior to winning, Niamh was a member of the Orchestral Academy and had temporary contracts with Janáček Philharmonic.

With Janáček Philharmic, she has worked with many famous international conductors and soloists including Vasily Sinaisky, Daniel Raiskin, Elina Garanca to name a few. She also toured internationally with the orchestra inlcuding a Japan, Baltic and German tour.

Outside of the orchestra, Niamh enjoys a freelance career both in Czechia and Ireland. Most recently, she was playing Principal Horn with the renowned Philharmonia Octet Prague. She also freelances in Ireland with RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra and Irish National Opera.

Niamh graduated with a First Class Honours from the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 2021. She studied under the tuition of Cormac Ó'hAodáin and Bethan Watkeys. In 2019, she studied with Erja Joukamo-Ampuja at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki under the Erasmus scheme.

During her studies, Niamh won multiple competitions including Senior Brass at Feis Ceoil, Open Category at Navan Choral and Instrumental Festival and Feis Maithiu Cork. These wins led to solo performances on the main stage at National Concert Hall in Dublin.

Niamh also enjoys Chamber music. In Czechia, she is a member of a wind quintet under Ostrava New Music Centre. She also broadcasted live on Czech TV with Janáček Philharmonic Brass Trio.

Katherine breeden: Clarinet/Saxophone Tutor

Katherine Breeden is a PhD student at the Technological University Dublin researching learning cultures in conservatoire environments. She received M.M. degrees from Montclair State University (New Jersey, USA) where she taught music history, and the University of Kentucky (USA) where she taught clarinet methods.

Katherine graduated with a B.M. from Arizona State University (USA) with honors. Katherine has an international performing career, appearing annually as a soloist at the International Clarinet Association and European Clarinet Association conferences.

She apprenticed in clarinet repair with internationally renowned atelier Mark Jacobi (Philadelphia, USA). Her current projects include commissioning and performing new musical works by living composers and learning Irish traditional music.