Eímear Noone makes history as Oscars’ first female conductor

She will lead the 42-piece orchestra at the Academy Awards as it plays excerpts from five nominated scores on Sunday 9 February at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, California.

The Galway-born conductor was invited to take charge by Oscars’ Music Director Rickey Minor. Eímear praised the producers who “would like to finally see a female presence on the podium”.

Eímear was also the first woman to conduct at Dublin’s National Concert Hall.

She has conducted the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra along with orchestras around the world including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic of London and the Sydney Symphony in Australia.

She hopes to inspire future generations of female conductors and composers.

“It’s an honour to be there, to help normalize something that I do every day,” she said.

“Little girls everywhere will see this and say: ‘I think I’ll do that.’

“That’s what we want.”