Orla McGarrity is an Irish violinist based in Manchester, where she graduated from the RNCM with both First-Class Honours Bachelors and Masters Degrees. She studied under James Clark, Cecily Ward and Pavel Fischer and has performed in masterclasses for Arabella Steinbacher, Peter Sheppard Skærved and Vera Vaidman. Orla is currently a Fellow on Manchester Camerata’s Ruth Sutton Scheme and is enjoying a busy freelancing career both in Manchester and at home in Northern Ireland. She performed with ensembles such as HRSE, Les Foyer des Artistes and Manchester Camerata.

 

Orla is a member of the Talland Quartet who are studying on RNCM's Quartet Studio Programme and have recently joined Italy's prestigious Le Dimore Del Quartetto Network. They regularly perform across the UK and will be Young Artists at this year's Cork Music Festival. Orla's love for curating chamber events led her to working as the Programming Assistant at the RNCM in 2022/23 and interning at Weesp Chamber Music Festival in the Netherlands in the same year. She enjoys working as an ad hoc chamber music tutor at RNCM's Junior Department and since 2024 has run Mourne Chamber Music Festival in Newcastle County Down, which aims to increase engagement with classical music in the Mourne area.

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Orla plays on an 1810 Giuseppe Baldantoni violin generously loaned to her by the Harrison Frank Family Foundation and is grateful to be supported by Help Musicians. When not playing violin, Orla can be found evicting slugs from her allotment or reading a good book.