Eileen Downey is currently Distinguished Lecturer of Collaborative Piano at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where she is a vocal coach and collaborative pianist, as well as a rehearsal pianist for Knoxville Opera. Her most recent engagement was at Opera Roanoke for their production of Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied in February 2023. Ms. Downey was invited to perform at the African-American Art Song Alliance Conference in Irvine, California last fall, and she spent the summer of 2022 in Austria, as an opera coach for the AIMS in Graz program.

Eileen held the positions of chorusmaster, vocal coach, and music director for the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center for the summer seasons of 2013-14, and 2016-19. She has been an accompanist for the Tennessee district of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition since 2012, and this is her second appearance as a pianist for the Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition.

Ms. Downey is an alumna of the Merola Opera Program and worked as a staff accompanist for AIMS in Graz in 2011. Other programs in which she has been involved include Opera North, SongFest, Aspen Opera Theater Center, Project Canción Española, and the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy. Ms. Downey received a bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and a master’s Degree in Collaborative Piano from Michigan State University.