Shelley Bukspan

Shelley Bukspan was born in The Bronx, N.Y, and immigrated to Ireland in 1986. Since the late 80s to the present day she’s been performing as a solo artist, singer-songwriter, studio recording artist and backing vocalist, as well as arranging vocals for other artists. She embarked on her performance mentoring career in 2008, was recruited to lecture at BIMM Institute Dublin in 2011, and promoted to Head of Vocals in 2016. In addition, she has worked closely with The Gaiety School of Acting since 2012, and became a mentor for Minding Creative Minds in 2023.

As a lecturer and former Head of Vocals at BIMM Institute Dublin, Shelley has mentored some of the most successful contemporary artists and musicians to come out of Ireland in recent years. As a graduate mentor, she introduced a new generation of dedicated vocal experts to the vocal department at BIMM and to other international institutions. As part of the role she has hosted, and contributed to, international masterclasses and workshops in person, and online.

For theatre, Shelley has coached the cast of ‘48’ by Emma Kane (Smock Ally and National Tour) and ‘Wickedness of Oz’ by Kate Gilmore (Project Arts Centre). For film, Shelley trained a stellar cast on the musical ‘The End’ alongside producer Marius de Vries which included Tilda Swinton, Bronagh Gallagher, Michael Shannon, Moses Ingram, George Mackay, and Tim Mclnnery.

Shelley’s music career in Ireland spans over 30 decades with multiple collaborations including The RTE Concert Orchestra, The Ormond Multimedia Centre (Elevator), Bill Whelan (Riverdance), Gavin Murphy, John Walsh (Symphonic) Dave Barker, Mary Black, Dolores Keane, Mary Coughlan, Mik Pyro, and Horslips, to name a few. Her voice and music are featured in numerous international films, projects, and ads, including on ‘Maniac 2000’ which became an Irish phenomenon and won The Meteor Music Awards in 2001. Her most recent releases include her solo album ‘The Bronx Age’ in 2021 and a Gospel-inspired single ‘At Last our Time is Here’ featuring Eamon Flynn & The Henry Girls in 2022.

Shelley is trained in the Buteyko breathing method under Patrick McKeown and holds a Post Grad in Further and Higher Music Education, from Middlesex University, 2014.