Fil Campbell - Course Director and Vocal Coach

Fil is a professional singer/songwriter and for the past 12 months has been working on researching and recording the music for "Songbirds - the first Ladies of Irish Song" a 6 part television series which was first broadcast in Ireland during November and December 2005. The accompanying CD of old traditional songs and DVD of the 6 programmes are now available through record shops and tourist shops nationwide and via the Songbirds website - www.songbirds.tv.

Fil tours regularly with her band in Germany, Holland, England, Ireland, Scotland and America where her recordings receive a lot of radio play. She has performed with Van Morrison, Mary Black and Jackson Brown and has opened for Elton John at Stormont.

In a long career that has covered most aspects of the music business, Fil has worked as a backing vocalist and as a recording studio singer, as a BBC radio presenter, a music publicist, a promoter and band manager, a TV presenter and a singing teacher. She has organised publicity campaigns for Queen, Bob Dylan, various Slane Castle concerts, Rod Stewart, Simple Minds and the Bolshoi Ballet and has promoted concerts and festivals.

Tom McFarland - Course Director and Music Producer

Tom McFarland is a full time percussionist and drummer from Belfast. He works as a studio musician and tours worldwide with several acts from both rock and folk worlds. Most recently he produced and recorded the music for Songbirds for RTE television in his own digital recording studio - Ballyneddan Studio.

As a session musician he also recently worked on the last studio album from David Knopfler (founder member of Dire Straits along with his brother Mark) and is a member of his touring band. He works with folk singer Aoife Ferry, from the Phil Coulter Orchestra and is a full time member of Fil Campbell's band. He has worked on albums for both Tommy and Colum Sands, Tom Newman (producer of Tubular Bells) and Finbar Furey. He teaches drum kit, bodhran and world percussion and is an experienced studio and stage sound engineer.

In his website design company, Macjac, he is responsible for managing the websites of Songbirds, Tommy Sands, the Celtic Lyre Orchestra, Expression International Language School, Fitzpatrick Financial Consultants, Fiddlers Green Festival and Fil Campbell.

Jackie Hayden - Industry Advisor

Jackie began working in the music industry as Promotions Manager for Polydor Ireland (now Polygram) in the late sixties. From 1972 to 1980 he was Marketing Manager with CBS Ireland where he signed U2 to their first record deal and has often been referred to as the man who discovered U2. He is now a director of Hot Press magazine and also works as a music industry consultant.

Over the years he has devised  marketing and publicity campaigns for artists as diverse as The Clash, Abba, Prince, Madonna, Christy Moore, Mary Black, Paul Simon, REM, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, U2, Clannad and countless others.

With over 25 years experience in the music industry he is regularly invited to lecture to various groups, including engagements in Bourges (France), Freiburg (Germany) and Vic (Spain) at Seminars sponsored by the French, German and Spanish governments . He has lectured in virtually every Senior College and University in Ireland, including Trinity College Dublin, Queens University Belfast and The Ballyfermot Rock School.

From 1990 to 1992 he directed the Hot Press International Music Seminars in Dublin and in 1994/9 organised one-day seminars on the music industry in Wexford, Galway, Cork, Limerick, Dingle and Belfast. He was a founder member of the Jobs In Music Campaign.
In 1995 he was invited by the Irish government to participate on a Task Force on the Irish music industry. He was also appointed Chairman of a government committee to examine the International Marketing of Irish Music.

As a journalist he has had material used in countless publications, including the Sunday Times and Hot Press, has been interviewed by numerous international TV, radio stations and publications and wrote the book “My Boy - the Philip Lynott Story” with Philomena Lynott which rose to number one on the Irish best-seller lists.  The film rights were subsequently bought by Hollywood. In 1998 he wrote “the Need To Know Guide To The Records Industry”, and in 1999 he co-wrote a book on Careers In Music and wrote “The Winner In Me”, the biography of musician-actor Don Baker. He has interviewed artists as varied as Al Jarreau, John Miles, Bryan Ferry and the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli for Dutch and Spanish television.
He was responsible for inaugurating the Heineken-Hot Press Music Critics Awards, the Twix DJ competition, the Levis Opportunity Rocks gigs, the Bacardi Unplugged band competition, the Carling-Hot Press band competition, the Heineken Demo Marathon and several other music related initiatives.

In 1993 he was given a Special Irish Music Industry Award by a panel of Irish music media critics.  He has been working with Summersong since the courses began in 2000.

Peter Benson - keyboards

Peter Benson from Rostrevor, is one of the most sought after young keyboard players in Northern Ireland. He has recently joined the Phil Coulter Orchestra and is a regular member of Newry bands Cold Porter, Sugar Island (in which he is the main songwriter) and Sugar Blues as well as doing occasional gigs with other touring singers including Aoife Ferry. Peter also plays and trumpet and is a brass tutor for the Southern Education and Library Board.

Mickey Murphy - guitar

Mickey Murphy from Newry is highly praised as a musical director, guitar tutor and session musician. He plays in Cold Porter, local blues and jazz bands and teaches guitar in several schools in the Newry area. He also plays regularly in the Music Society Orchestra and in the Susan McCann band.

The Life Coach is Marie McStay

who is a freelance radio presenter (Your Place and Mine, Saturday mornings, BBC Radio Ulster). Life coaching is a relatively new concept in personal development and is very quickly becoming an essential tool for businesses and professionals to assist them in planning their careers, setting their goals and managing their lives.
Marie is a trainer and educator committed to enabling individuals and organisations develop their potential, throughout her working life, which has been in Further/Higher education and training, she has been at the leading edge of innovative developmental and wholistic practice. She has established a profile as an international trainer working in other European countries on Personal and Professional Development. As a facilitator , she brings objectivity and clear communication to teams. Her work is in demand throughout Ireland and she is the country's first licensed trainer of the internationally recognised women's development programme 'SPRINGBOARD' and the highly acclaimed 'Spring Forward' developmental programme for people in leadership. She lectures in Gender Studies at Dundalk Inst. Technology.