Gregory Ward is a French musician, music teacher and choir director.
Having received a BA in Musicology and MA in composition from the University of Montpellier he went on to study the D.U.M.I at the Mirail University of Toulouse, a two-year postgraduate programme specialising in music teaching in a primary-school setting. After 4 years of working in Lyon he completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Music Pedagogy at the Kodaly Institute of the Liszt Academy of Music in Hungary. He was also the recipient of a scholarship from the Balassi Institute. More recently, he completed the Drama Facilitation Training Course with Youth Theatre Ireland.
In 2012 he co-founded the Kodaly-based music school Bouge et Chante in Lyon, France with Sophie Ward, where he taught music to children ages 5 – 11. He was also choir director of the a cappella group Atelier Polyphonique. During his time in Lyon he was director of the project “Voix-ci, Voix-là”, a national primary-school project involving 4 hours of music and theatre for children ages 10-11.
He also worked as a solfege teacher for the young singers of the Maitrise de la Cathedrale de Lyon. He was President of the national Kodaly Association La Voix de Kodaly en France for 8 years and regularly taught on their summer courses. He has also worked as a Kodaly-pedagogy teacher for music teachers in conservatoires throughout France. He has composed 5 musicals for children ages 8+ which have been performed in France, Belgium and Switzerland.
Recently arrived in Birr, he is the co-founder of Woodland’s Music and the community choir Sing It! Other projects include director of the Birr Young Voices choir, facilitator of the Birr Youth Theatre project, primary-school music teacher with Music Generation Offaly, primary-school French teacher with Languages Connect and composer for silent films through his project Gargoyles and Rainbows.
Education
Youth Theatre of Ireland
Drama Facilitation Training Course 2024
Kodaly Institute Summer Course, 2013 and 2014
Certificates for composition masterclasses with Gyula Fekete
Choral workshops, choral singing, solfege lessons and Kodaly methodology
Kodaly Institute of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Hungary
Post-graduate diploma in Kodaly Methodology
Université Mirail, Toulouse
Two-year post-graduate diploma specialising in teaching music in a primary-school setting (D.U.M.I.)
Université Montpellier
Masters I in Composition with honours
Bachelor of Arts in Musicology
Complementary Education
2020 – 2022 Individual classes with a certified Alexander-Technique teacher
2021 – 2022 Weekly contemporary dance and dance-training classes
2018 – 2019 Weekly acting classes with the theatre company Compagnie du Voyageur Debout
2005 – 2014 Private singing lessons, guitar lessons and piano lessons with certified teachers
Recent Gigs
Birr Stage Guild – The Singing River, August 2025
Musical Director for the original musical, The Singing River.
Birr Festival of Music 2025
Birr Young Voices Concert, St. Brendan’s Church, Birr
Sing It! Summer Concert, Birr Castle Courtyard
Brrrr it’s Christmas 2024– a Christmas concert with Sing It Community Choir, Birr Stage Guild Choir, soloists John Molloy and Celine Byrne.
Culture Night Offaly, 2024
Esker Arts Centre, Tullamore.
Performed live, original music using analogue sythesizers for 3 silent films – More by Mark Osborne (1998), A Trip to the Moon by Georges Mélies (1902) and Neighbours by Norman McLaren (1952)
Birr Festival of Music 2024
Birr Young Voices Concert, St. Brendan’s Church, Birr
OFFline Film Festival 2023
Silent Movie Night
Performed live original music for the silent film Voyage à la Lune by Georges Méliès and performed as foley artist for Buster Keaton’s One Week
Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival 2023
Silent Movie Night, John’s Hall, Birr.
Performed live original music for the silent film Voyage à la Lune by Georges Méliès and performed as foley artist for Buster Keaton’s One Week