Helen Phelan is professor of arts practice, and director of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick. She is founder of the PhD Arts Practice programme at the Academy, and founding Chair of IMBAS, a national network for artistic research. She is an award-winning scholar for her work in music, ritual and migration.
Marie McCarthy is professor of music education at the University of Michigan. She has contributed to music education in Ireland for over three decades. Awards include honorary life member of the Society for Music Education in Ireland and the International Society for Music Education, and the 2022 Senior Researcher Award from the US National Association for Music Education.
Nicholas Carolan is director emeritus of the Irish Traditional Music Archive, of which he was founder-director 1987–2015 and general editor of its publications. A researcher, writer, producer and lecturer, he is best known for the archival television series Come West along the Road and Siar an Bóthar (1994–2014).
