Having graduated top of her class from the Cork School of Music (B.Mus), Caoimhe de Paor moved to London, where she gained a distinction in her Masters in Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Ian Wilson, Robert Ehrlich, Pamela Thorby (GSMD) and Elizabeth Jones (CSM). She was also awarded the school’s Concert Recital Diploma (for outstanding recital performance). Caoimhe went on to become an Artist Fellow at the conservatoire and was also invited to take part in the Handel House Talent Scheme (2014-15), alongside fellow Palisander player, Elspeth.
As a soloist, Caoimhe has achieved a number of competition successes in Ireland and the UK. She was a semi-finalist in the Irish Freemason’s Young Musician of the Year for two consecutive years, a finalist in the Worshipful Company of Needlemaker’s competition, a finalist in the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarships and won first prize in the Recorder Conservatoire competition at the North London Festival of Music. Most recently, she has given the Irish premiere of Richard Harvey’s Concerto Incantato with the UL orchestra, has recorded for The New York Times Conception series and is a member of opera chamber ensemble, Insieme, an Ensemble-in-Residence at Lauderdale House in London.
Caoimhe has performed as a chamber musician and soloist in prominent events and venues, including Wigmore Hall (Chamber Tots series), Wilton’s Music Hall, Royal Greenwich International Early Music Festival, East Cork Early Music Festival, University of Limerick Concert Hall, St. Barrahane’s Festival of Music, Tel-Aviv Early Music Seminar (Israel), World Forum on Music Opening Ceremony (Brisbane) and London Handel Festival. She has also appeared alongside the Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra and the Academy of Ancient Music, as part of their AMMplify scheme.
As well as a variety of teaching, Caoimhe is co-leader of the Creative Music Ensemble in Waltham Forest, an initiative of Barbican Creative Learning. She is a mentor for Aldeburgh Young Musicians and an examiner for the Cork School of Music.