Peter Barley is Organist and Choirmaster of St Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick. He is also a member of staff at the Limerick School of Music, where he teaches piano and organ and is a staff accompanist.

Peter was previously Organist and Master of the Choristers at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. Peter began his career in London, where he was Director of Music at St Marylebone Church. The foundations for his interest in choral and organ music were laid through studies at King’s College, Cambridge (where he was an organ scholar) and as a postgraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music, London. His organ teachers during this time were Nicolas Kynaston, the late Peter Hurford and the late Nicholas Danby.

As an organist, Peter has played at many UK venues including St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Bridgewater Hall. He has performed widely in Ireland, and whilst living and working in Canada he played in all the regular ‘noon-hour’ organ recital series in Toronto. He made his concerto debut in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1994. Peter has since performed organ concerti in Hereford and Guildford Cathedrals, and most recently Poulenc’s Organ Concerto with the RTE Concert Orchestra in Dublin. Forthcoming engagements include recitals at St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny and Christ Church, Bristol.

Luminosa String Orchestra was launched in November 2018, the brainchild of Lucy Hayward O’Leary, now the executive director, and Nicola Geddes, cellist with Luminosa, and has performed stunning concerts ever since in Galway and Cork. The word Luminosa means "brilliant light" in Italian, and the title was inspired by the presence of the brilliant professional musicians now living and working in Galway.

Luminosa has been delighting audiences ever since, with high-quality concerts created with an innovative and original curatorial approach. Their concerts feature lesser-known works and many Irish composers alongside pillars of classical string repertoire, all brought back into the light and performed with freshness and verve. They commission new Irish classical works regularly and seek to curate music programmes with a theme or connection which resonates with new and existing audiences alike, bringing together many eras of music, with real meaning - a balm for the soul through the times we live in.

Their performances are compelling, powerful and heart-rending. Their musicians are highly-skilled and seasoned classical, romantic or early-music practitioners who delight in playing a wide variety of music on modern instruments. Led by Paul Ezergailis, concertmaster of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the orchestra’s section leaders comprise the members of the renowned ConTempo Quartet, the orchestra also features many noteworthy string players on the Irish stage. Coming to a Luminosa concert means coming to witness a passionate manifestation of live music making by world-class musicians, and the orchestra is proud to be based in Galway.