About

Jane Hackett is a Dublin born violinist, who began studying violin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music at the age of eight with Geraldine O' Grady. She completed a BA in Music Performance there with Maeve Broderick and went on to win the prestigious Maura Dowdall Concerto Competition and Colin Staveley Memorial Award for Best String Player in her final year. This lead to her solo debut with the RTE Concert Orchestra in 2015 as well as a solo performance alongside Lord David Puttnam and Sacha Puttnam in the National Concert Hall, attended by President Higgins. After a period of study in the US, Jane went on to complete an MA in Classical String Performance at the University of Limerick under Katherine Hunka and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, winning Lyric FM bursaries both years.

Jane's work spans many artistic forms. She performs regularly with all of Ireland's leading orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra, RTE Concert Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, Irish National Opera ,Wexford Festival Opera, RSO Wien and performs with bands and at festivals at home and abroad. She is a core member of chamber collective, Musici Ireland and their recently appointed Collaborative Director, developing the group's cross genre artistic productions and broadening partnerships internationally.

Jane is a long standing member of the contemporary music group, Kirkos Ensemble, who now have an artistic space, 'Unit 44' in Stoneybatter, Dublin. Kirkos has played an important role in moulding Jane's creative journey. She has worked with many exciting Irish composers, premiered new works and began developing her own improvisations, installations and shows. Jane is enthusiastic about creating ways for the public to engage with classical and contemporary music. In 2018 she began her own children’s radio show, Kids Classical Club and in 2019 co-founded and directed a chamber collective, ReClassified, which brought classical music concerts into live music venues around Dublin.

Jane has been commissioned to develop various works involving dance, theatre, movement, circus and visual arts and is excited to collaborate with many artists. She has been awarded numerous grants including the Arts Council's Bursary, Agillity, Professional Development and Commission Awards, South Dublin County Council's Individual Artist Award, Capacity Building and Resilience Award, Dublin City Council's Artist Award, the Lyric FM Bursary and Culture Ireland Funding.

She plays a beautiful Michael de Hoog violin and with a Noel Burke bow.