Cross Border Symposium 2026 | Teaching with Impact

A day of ideas and practice for music teachers, with keynote address 'The Teaching Musician' by Dr Liz Doherty. What makes teaching truly impactful? How can we grow as teachers as well as musicians? Join us for our 2026 cross-border symposium, a day exploring the art and craft of teaching. Our keynote speaker is Dr Liz Doherty, traditional musician, educator, researcher and Founder of I Teach Trad. The day brings together teachers, performers and learners to share ideas and practice and to reflect on how we pass on our music. Full programme and speakers to be announced. Keynote Address: The Teaching Musician Dr Liz Doherty As traditional musicians, we devote a lifetime to developing our craft – practising, performing, listening, learning and continually refining who we are as artists. But how often do we bring that same curiosity and commitment to our teaching? Teaching is an art, a craft, a science and a profession, yet it is something many of us simply find ourselves doing, drawing instinctively on what we know and how we ourselves were taught. In this keynote, Liz Doherty invites us to think more deeply about the teaching musician: to explore the knowledge we already carry, to become curious about how and why we teach as we do, and to consider our development as teachers as an equally rich and lifelong journey. Dr Liz Doherty (Keynote Speaker) Dr Liz Doherty is a traditional musician, educator and researcher from Buncrana, Co. Donegal. An experienced fiddle teacher, she has spent over 30 years teaching traditional music in Ireland and internationally, alongside an extensive career in higher education, where she taught and developed curricula in traditional music and music education. A National Teaching Fellow, she holds a PhD in Cape Breton fiddle music and is author of The Cape Breton Fiddle Companion. Liz is Founder and Director of I Teach Trad, developing training, courses and resources for traditional music teachers, including Read Music the TRAD Way, her innovative approach to teaching music literacy in the traditional music context. She is also a performer, arts consultant and television music producer.