Exploring CARE through the lens of VOICE
For Applefest 2026, composer and choral conductor Kate Twohig takes up the role of Musician in Residence, with a residency centred around the festival theme of CARE, explored through the lens of VOICE.
The voice is one of the first instruments we encounter and one of the most personal. It carries our stories, relationships, identities, histories and hopes. It can soothe, protest, grieve, celebrate, question, witness and connect.
Kate’s residency asks what it means to care for ourselves, for one another, for our communities and for our environment. It considers not only the voices we hear every day, but those that are often overlooked, silenced or left unspoken.
Through collective singing, walking, listening, sounding and artistic exploration, the residency invites people to experience voice as a means of connection, expression and shared responsibility.
Kate Twohig is a composer, choral conductor and established collaborator within Tipperary and the wider Irish arts community, working across composition, musical direction, performance and festival curation.
She graduated from University College Cork with a first-class honours BMus in 2014, specialising in performance and composition, with a particular focus on string and vocal arrangements.
A major recent development in Kate’s practice has been her work on From Out The Land (2023), for which she composed the original score and lyrics. The project marked a deepening of her compositional voice and her interest in music rooted in place, collaboration and community. Following its success, Kate was awarded funding from Tipperary Arts Office and Creative Ireland to professionally record the score, supporting the continued development and dissemination of the work.
Kate’s wider career spans songwriting, performance and collaborative music-making. She has gigged extensively across Ireland with her own music and has contributed keys and vocals to numerous artists, including her ongoing work with Vale, the electronic project of Eoin Hally.
She has supported artists including Paul Noonan, Mick Flannery, Peter Broderick and Jape, and has performed at festivals including Body & Soul, It Takes A Village, Sounds From a Safe Harbour and Clonmel Junction Arts Festival.
Kate also holds an MA in Festive Arts and is co-director and producer of When Next We Meet, an independent new music festival running since 2022. She is Musical Director and Vocal Arranger for Clonmel Community Choir, founded in 2024, and has composed original music for Stage Craft Youth Theatre’s mini-musical series.
In 2025, Kate received the Tipperary Artist Award, supporting the continued development of her compositional and performance practice.
Across the festival, Kate’s residency will unfold through a series of opportunities to sing, listen, walk and make music together, exploring how our individual and collective voices can create connection and community.
Voices of Care: Pop-Up Choir & Workshop
Friday 25 September, 1pm
Under the Arches, Main Guard
Free
Drop in, find your voice and experience the joy of singing together in this open pop-up choir and workshop.
The One Night Only Choir
Friday 25 September, 7pm
Brewery Bar, Mulcahy’s, 47 Gladstone Street
€12
Karaoke, but live! Learn one brilliant song, add some harmonies and experience the sheer joy of singing together with a live band.
Voice & Breath Walk by the Suir
Sunday 27 September, 11am
Meet at Gashouse Bridge
€12
A mindful nature walk along the River Suir with breath, voice and song, led by Kate Twohig and Maria Dargan of The Yoga Yard.
Three very different invitations to use your voice: sing together, make some noise, or slow down and listen. No singing experience needed.
