Thomas Johnston is the Founder & Artistic Director of Ceol Connected, a performing arts & education company that produces festivals, events, albums & critically acclaimed touring productions for young audiences. His experience as a musician, composer, producer, educator & researcher gives me a unique perspective which informs & propels my work.

He is also the co-founder & co-director of Curious Cubs an edutech app for iOS & Android specialising in early years creative learning. The app (Oct ‘24 launch) offers a joyful collection of newly composed songs, stories, dances, games & other creative activities to stimulate fun, learning & meaningful engagement for 2-7 year olds.

Since 2011, he has co-created & produced 11 touring Ceol Connected productions including The Land of a Hundred Little Hills (2022-23) which was commissioned by The Patrick Kavanagh Centre & produced with the National Concert Hall & Draíocht Arts Centre. He is the co-producer & musical director of When the Moon Spun Round, an aerial dance & traditional music spectacle with Fidget Feet Aerial Dance that will tour to 6 venues in ‘25 supported by the Arts Council.  When the Moon Spun Round received a 5-star Irish Times review which described the show as a ‘gloriously acrobatic aerial dance that enthrals its young audience’ (Siobhan Long, Sep ’24)

His work in the area of multisensory arts for children with additional needs includes establishing Ceol Connected’s annual Sounding the Senses multisensory residency; co-creating Lullaby Leaf, a multisensory immersive theatre show for children with complex needs that will tour in ‘25; & developing/facilitating a series of CPD workshops for artists & educators who work in this area.

He is the Founder, Artistic Director & Executive Producer of Tradoodle Festival, Ireland’s only traditional arts festival dedicated to children & families that takes place each year in venues & settings across Co. Monaghan. In ‘24 Tradoodle Festival celebrated their 7th Annual Tradoodle Festival with 40+ artists engaging 2000+ children across the county.

In 2015, Thomas completed a two-year Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship with Music Generation in partnership with St. Patrick’s College (now DCU). This research entitled Possible Selves in Music presented a new model for performance music education in Ireland which supports powerful & positive outcomes for children & young people.  Previous to this, his PhD (2013) at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick was an investigation into the place of Irish traditional music in post-primary music education in Ireland.