Changing Her Tune
A Monaghan woman who performed on some of the world’s most renowned opera stages has embarked on a new career helping people through illness, recovery and major life challenges.
Originally from Three Mile House, Paula Roche recently graduated from the University Limerick with a Master of Arts in Music Therapy, the latest chapter in a remarkable career that has taken her from international opera houses to hospitals and rehabilitation settings.
For more than a decade, Paula, who also performed professionally under the name Polly Greenwood, was a member of the chorus with Welsh National Opera, performing across the UK and internationally, including Hong Kong, Dubai and Oman. She also sang for King Charles III.
However, the Covid pandemic marked a turning point.
“When theatres closed, everything stopped. Performing wasn’t just what I did, it was my purpose, my community and my connection,” she recalls.
The experience prompted Paula to reflect on the role music plays in people’s lives, ultimately leading her to enrol on UL’s pioneering Master’s programme, the only course of its kind in Ireland.
“I didn’t want to leave music behind. I wanted to find a way to use it that involved direct connection with people,” she says.
The career change was made easier given her husband Joe, a former Welsh National Opera tenor, had previously completed the same programme.
“I got to see the change in him and the way the course encourages you to think differently about music,” Paula remarked. “In performance, everything is about perfection. In music therapy, it’s about being present with another person and meeting them where they are.”
During clinical placements at the National Rehabilitation Hospital and Tipperary University Hospital, the Monaghan native witnessed first-hand the impact music therapy can have.
One experience in particular confirmed she had chosen the right path. Working with a woman with aphasia following a stroke, Paula discovered how music could create connections beyond spoken language.
“Sometimes I would play the piano while she conducted with her left hand. Other times we explored familiar songs and created music together.”
Paula says the experience transformed her understanding of human connection.
“It deepened my appreciation of the many forms communication can take and how music therapy can create space for a person’s voice and identity to be experienced beyond spoken language.”
Paula also developed a particular interest in perinatal mental health and helped pilot a perinatal music therapy programme during a placement at Tipperary hospital.
Now based in Clonmel, Paula is establishing a private clinic, while also working as a research assistant on UL’s ARISE programme, supporting ethnic minority and migrant women who have experienced a reproductive health journey in Ireland.
Professor Hilary Moss, director of the MA in Music Therapy programme at UL’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, describes Paula as “a shining example of the high-level musicianship, professional skills, and clinical understanding that we nurture on the programme”.
Central to music therapy, according to Paula, is choice and collaboration.
“A person is always invited rather than expected to participate. They can sing, play, listen, talk or simply be present.”
She adds: “Sometimes the most valuable part of a session is that it offers a moment of pause, a space where someone can slow down, feel supported and reconnect with themselves.”
As she begins the next stage of her career, Paula believes her years as a performer continue to influence her new line of work.
“Music has always been about connection. The difference now is that I get to experience that connection directly, one person at a time.”
Offering advice to anyone considering a career change, Ms Roche Is emphatic.
“Nothing you’ve done before is wasted because you bring all of that experience with you. If something gives you purpose and leads you towards something meaningful, then you have to give it a go.”