The National Concert Hall proudly announces full details of Celebrating the Voice: A Professional Development Programme for Singers designed and led by Artist-in-Residence Tara Erraught

CELEBRATING THE VOICE: BACKGROUND 

Celebrating the Voice is a professional development programme for young singers designed and led by acclaimed mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught. It first took place in Drogheda in conjunction with Drogheda Classical Music in 2020, as a weekend programme, growing to four days in 2023. 

The programme is open to singers who are Irish citizens or resident in Ireland. Selection for participation is based on criteria including recordings, repertoire, stage of vocal development and, in the case of those still in full time study, a letter of recommendation from the current teacher. 

About the National Concert Hall 

The National Concert Hall (NCH) is Ireland’s national cultural institution for music, proudly serving the Irish public since it opened in 1981 through live music performances and significant educational and cultural programmes. Based in the heart of Dublin’s city centre, next door to the picturesque Iveagh Gardens, the NCH is proud home to our National Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Chorus, Cór Linn and Cór na nÓg, as well as providing residence for a range of other music organisations including Chamber Choir Ireland, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Music Network, Crash Ensemble and Music Generation. It is currently planning for a major redevelopment of all its facilities as part of the National Development Plan and Project Ireland 2040.    

Faoin Ceoláras Náisiúnta 

Is institiúid chultúrtha náisiúnta na hÉireann don cheol é an Ceoláras Náisiúnta, a fhreastalaíonn go bródúil ar phobal na hÉireann ó osclaíodh é i 1981 trí thaibhithe ceoil beo agus cláir shuntasacha oideachais agus chultúrtha. Lonnaithe i gcroílár Bhaile Átha Cliath, agus béal dorais le Gairdíní Uíbh Eachach, tá an Ceoláras Náisiúnta bródúil as ár gCeolfhoireann Shiansach Náisiúnta, Cór Siansach Náisiúnta, Cór Linn agus Cór na nÓg chomh maith le háit chónaithe a chur ar fáil do réimse eagraíochtaí ceoil eile lena n-áirítear Cór Aireagail Éireann, Ceolfhoireann Bharócach na hÉireann, Music Network, Crash Ensemble agus Music Generation. Tá sé i gceist faoi láthair athfhorbairt mór á dhéanamh ar na háiseanna go léir mar chuid den Phlean Forbartha Náisiúnta agus de Thionscadal Éireann 2040. 

Media Queries 

Assumpta Lawless, Marketing & Communications Manager, National Symphony Orchestra. 

Email: assumpta.lawless@nch.ie 

Mobile: 087 290 4168  

INDUSTRY EXPERTS: BIOGRAPHIES 

Tara Erraught 

Tara Erraught is one of the leading international singers whose versatile repertoire ranges from the Baroque to Mozart, the bel canto repertoire, romantic and contemporary music. 

In the 2024-2025 season, Tara Erraught will once again appear as Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at the Berlin State Opera and as Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito) at the Hamburg State Opera. She will appear with the Vienna State Opera as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) in Monte Carlo. The much sought-after artist is also very active again in the concert field. She gives recitals at the Wigmore Hall and the Praga Festival in Easton, and sings orchestral songs by Alma Mahler with the SWR. As Artist-in-Residence at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, she will work closely with the National Symphony Orchestra in events including an opera gala concert, a performance of works by Haydn, Martínez and Mozart, and a professional development programme for young singers. 

Highlights of recent seasons include her role debut as the title role in Iphigénie en Tauride, Cendrillon and Donna Elvira at the Opéra de Paris, as well as her role debut as Maria Stuarda at the Irish National Opera. Tara Erraught was a member of the Opera Studio and the ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera and is a regular guest in Munich, where she was most recently celebrated as Rosina and Adalgisa (Norma). Other roles in Munich have included Susanna, Despina, Hänsel, Orlofsky, Sesto, Angelina (La Cenerentola), Roméo and Kathleen Scott in the successful world premiere of Srnka’s opera South Pole. At the Metropolitan Opera New York she was celebrated as Nicklausse (The Tales of Hoffmann) and Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel).  

Tara Erraught made guest appearances at the Vienna State Opera as Donna Elvira, Komponist and Rosina. As Angelina in the new production of La Cenerentola, she was hailed as the ‘new bel canto queen’ by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. She made her debut at the 2016 Salzburg Festival as Siebel in Gounod’s Faust. At the Baden-Baden Festival Theatre, she sang Annio (La clemenza di Tito) under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In Hamburg, she made her debuts as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Alice (Falstaff) and Vitellia. Tara Erraught was Artist-in-Residence at the Glimmerglass Festival 2024 where she sang the title part in Elizabeth Cree and gave a master class for young singers. 

Tara Erraught has also given recitals at Wigmore Hall in London, at the Schubertiade, in Munich, Barcelona, Oxford and Eppan. A special honour was the invitation to the jubilee song recital to celebrate the 100th birthday of Victoria de los Angeles in Barcelona, which she also presented at London’s Wigmore Hall. Concert engagements have taken her to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt, the Minnesota Orchestra under Simone Young, and a Mozart gala with the Munich Radio Orchestra under Alexander Soddy. The artist performed in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Duisburg under the baton of Eun Sun Kim. Her international concert activities have also taken her to New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Centre in Washington, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver, Savannah, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Dublin, Lyon and Tokyo. She sang Mozart’s Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. 

Born in Dundalk, Ireland, Tara Erraught graduated from the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. She works regularly with Brigitte Fassbaender. 

Dearbhla Collins 

Dearbhla Collins is one of Ireland’s finest musicians. She enjoys collaborating with singers who have a real passion for song. These include Sir Thomas Allen, Sir Simon Keenlyside, Tara Erraught and Nicky Spence. Her performances have taken her to the US, China, Japan, and many European countries. Venues she has performed in include Wigmore Hall, London, the Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Lincoln Center, New York, and festivals including Blackwater Valley Opera Festival and Dublin International Chamber Music festival.

Dearbhla is Artistic Director of the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition. She is passionate about mentoring young vocal talent and is Artistic Consultant at the National Opera Studio, London. She has for many years been a vocal coach at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and is also visiting coach to Mascarade Opera Studio, Florence and the YAP Opera Academy of the Polish National Opera, Warsaw. She has given masterclasses and workshops to singers in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan, China, in the Royal College of Music, London, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and Opera North, Leeds. 

Dearbhla founded Dublin Song Series in 2013 and continues to curate it in partnership with the National Concert Hall and the Hugh Lane Gallery. The concerts in 2024-2025 at the NCH feature mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy and the Irish debut performances of American baritone, Sean Michael Plumb, and the tenor, Anthony Leon, winner of Operalia Competition 2022.  

In October 2017 she was awarded an honorary doctorate for her services to music in Ireland from the National University of Ireland. 

Morgane Fauchois 

French pianist Morgane Fauchois' career has taken her from opera theatres to concert stages, vocal recitals and chamber music projects. She collaborates with internationally acclaimed singers including Roberto Alagna, Aleksandra Kurzak, Rolando Villazón, Natalie Dessay, Tara Erraught, Joseph Calleja, Véronique Gens, and Karine Deshayes. 

With a repertoire spanning late Baroque to new music, she works as a coach for the Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra-Comique, Théâtre du Châtelet, operas in Lyon, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Tel Aviv, Riga, as well as renowned festivals such as Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence, and collaborating with conductors such as Louis Langrée, Carlo Rizzi, Daniele Gatti, Alain Altinoglu, Thomas Hengelbrock, Peter Eötvös and Marc Minkowski. 

Morgane Fauchois was a member of the Young Artists Program at Paris Opera, and was awarded First Prize in opera coaching at the International Belvedere Competition in Vienna. 

Committed to nurturing the next generation, Morgane Fauchois is now on the faculty of the vocal department at Paris Conservatoire, where she has also been appointed Head Coach for opera productions. 

Paul E. Kwak  

Dr Paul Kwak is a laryngologist and laryngeal surgeon at the New York University Voice Center, and Assistant Professor in the NYU Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, specializing in care of the professional voice. He treats patients with vocal cord cancer, vocal cord paralysis, and laryngeal papilloma, and is experienced in surgical techniques for laryngeal microsurgery and use of the KTP laser. He is also a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Collaborative Piano with Margo Garrett, studying vocal accompanying and opera coaching. Dr. Kwak’s clinical and research interests centre on the care of the professional voice, and his most recent publications examine physiologic and acoustic effects of opera performance, in ongoing collaborations with The Juilliard School, the Metropolitan Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. 

Andreas Massow  

Andreas Massow was born in Hamburg. In his hometown he studied musicology, economics and sociology, and during the course of his studies also gained experience at the Hamburg State Opera and Komische Oper Berlin. He began his career in the Company Office of Frankfurt Opera in 2003. In 2012 he was appointed to the Zurich Opera as consultant for artistic planning and casting. In 2014, Andreas joined the Bavarian State Opera in Munich as Head of Casting, and has worked at ARSIS Artist Management in Vienna since 2019.

Alexander Neef  

Alexander Neef was born in Germany in 1974. He began his career at the Salzburg Festival before joining the artistic administration of the Ruhrtriennale, a multidisciplinary festival in Germany. He served as Casting Director of the Paris Opera from 2004-2008. From 2008 to 2020, he was General Director of the Canadian Opera Company where he developed co-productions with, among others, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, London’s Royal Opera House, Madrid’s Teatro Real and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Alongside his management of the Canadian Opera Company, in 2018 he was appointed the first Artistic Director of Santa Fe Opera in the United States. In 2020, he was appointed Director General of the Paris Opera. Alexander Neef was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2018, and named Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture in 2022.

Gaby Smyth  

Gaby Smyth studied at UCD (BSc Hons, HDE), University of Limerick (M.A.), Leinster School of Music (LLSM), and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, also qualifying as a Certified Mediator (CEDR, London). He has been in financial and taxation consultancy for over 30 years, specialising in the literary, music, film, theatre and visual arts – representing and advising many of the major Irish and international practitioners in these areas.   

Gaby has also been involved in the leadership and governance of many arts organisations in Ireland; he has been the chairman of the boards of Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Corn Exchange Theatre Company, and TEAM Educational Theatre Company.  He was also chairman of the boards of the Dublin International Film Festival and Opera Theatre Company; and was inaugural chairman of Irish National Opera.  Additionally, he was non-executive chairman of Boulder Media Ltd., a major Irish animation company, and the first independent chair of Screen Producers Ireland, the umbrella organisation for the film, animation and TV industry in the state. 

He chaired the board of Amnesty International Ireland between 2001-2005, and again from 2010-2014. He was also chair of the International Chairs’ Forum for Amnesty International. 

SINGERS: BIOGRAPHIES 

RECITAL SINGERS 

Eiméar Harper 

Eiméar Harper is a Wicklow-born coloratura soprano. She made her operatic debut in the role of Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with Lyric Opera Ireland. Other roles include Mary Crawford in the Irish premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park, Cousin in Madama Butterfly and Yum-Yum in The Mikado at the National Concert Hall. She has also joined the chorus of Irish National Opera for their 2024-2025 season. As a concert soloist, Eiméar has performed with Le Foyer des Artistes, Sestina Music and Lyric Opera Ireland. Eiméar was the winner of the Gervase Elwes Memorial Cup at Feis Ceoil 2024. 

Éadaoin Hassett 

Irish soprano Éadaoin Hassett hails from Co. Kildare. Having graduated from the Bachelor's degree course in Vocal Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with First-Class Honours, Éadaoin continues her studies at the RIAM on the Master’s degree in Vocal Performance. There, she studies with Mary Brennan, Andrew Synnott and Dearbhla Collins. Recent professional engagements include singing as Soprano Soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Diva Voces, Dublin, and various roles in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in collaboration with Sligo Baroque Music Festival, London Handel Players and the Croatian Baroque Orchestra, with performances in Korčula, Croatia and Sligo, Ireland. 

David Kennedy 

Irish baritone David Kennedy, from Galway, is an INO Studio member for the 2024-2025 season. He recently performed Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and Silvio in Pagliacci at Wexford Opera Festival 2024 as part of the Factory. He was the first Irish scholar at the Heidelberger Frühling LiedAkademie, studying under Thomas Hampson in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. He also trained at LIEDBasel with Julius Drake and Ian Bostridge. Concert highlights include performing at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal with Susan Manoff during Schubert Week 2024. David was a recent semi-finalist at the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition 2024. He is grateful for the primary mentorship he receives from Owen Gilhooly-Miles, Dearbhla Collins, and Brenda Hurley. 

Bláthnaid Nicholson  

Bláthnaid Nicholson is a soprano from Co. Kildare with First Class Honours from University College Dublin in both BA Music & Drama and Bachelor of Music. She is currently studying with Orla Boylan, James Smidt and Aoife O’Sullivan. Some recent engagements include Clorinda in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, La Zia in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Julia Bertram in Dove’s Mansfield Park, and cover for Lurline in Wallace’s Lurline. She has sung as a member of the Irish National Opera Chorus in their productions of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict and Verdi’s La traviata, and in the BVOF Chorus in their recent productions of Verdi’s Macbeth and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. Bláthnaid has represented the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival at their recitals in conjunction with The Castlemartyr Resort and Waterford Whisky Distillery in 2023-2024, and performed a Young Artist Recital as part of Boyle Arts Festival 2022. 

Patrick McGinley  

Patrick McGinley is a tenor from Donegal. He first began music lessons at the age of six, eventually attending Maynooth University to study piano. He joined the Maynooth University Chamber Choir, where he fell in love with and decided to focus on singing. He was a member of Anúna for four years, performing around the world including on Japanese television and the BBC Last Night of the Proms. Since then, he has focused on the classical repertoire, working professionally in both opera and choral music with Irish National Opera, Northern Ireland Opera, the Ulster Consort, Sestina and as a soloist in C.V. Stanford’s Stabat Mater with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. 

Anna-Helena Maclachlan 

Anna-Helena Maclachlan is a mezzo-soprano from Westmeath, Ireland. She is currently enrolled in Royal Academy Opera at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Anna-Helena studies with Susan Waters and Jonathan Papp. She previously graduated from the Royal Irish Academy of Music with a First Class Honours Bachelors degree. Anna-Helena has a variety of experience on the opera, song and oratorio platforms. Upcoming engagements include Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and Third Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Royal Academy Opera. Anna-Helena is currently a recipient of the 2024 Blackwater Valley Opera Festival Bursary. At the Royal Academy of Music she is also a recipient of the Knights of the Round Table Award and the Charles Mackerras Opera Scholarship.  

Ellen Mawhinney 

Soprano Ellen Mawhinney studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has now graduated from the Royal Academy of Music Opera School after studying with Kate Paterson and Ingrid Surgenor. Ellen is the winner of Northern Ireland Opera’s Young Opera Voice of the Year award, the Deborah Voigt Prize at Northern Ireland Opera’s Festival of Voice, and the inaugural Charles Wood Song Competition. She has been a featured artist live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and spotlight recitalist for Classical Connections with BBC Radio Ulster. She is a Leeds Lieder Young Artist, a Josephine Baker Trust artist and a member of the Academy Song Circle. This past summer she was also a fellow young artist at the Toronto International Song Festival with her duo partner. She is the grateful recipient of the John Talbot Collender Award. With the Royal Academy of Music, she performed the role of Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Ginevra in Handel’s Ariodante, Miss Wordsworth in Britten’s Albert Herring, and Josephine in Martinů’s Comedy on the Bridge. Other operatic performances include Falsirena in La fiera di Venezia with Bampton Opera, Annina in La traviata and Chorus in Die Fledermaus with Northern Ireland Opera, and Alice in Wonderland with Opera Collective Ireland.

Diana Salop 

Diana Salop is a third-year student at TU Dublin Conservatoire, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance under Mairéad Buicke. Throughout her years of studying music she has participated in many festivals and concerts, achieving great success in competitions, most notably at Feis Ceoil and within TU Dublin Conservatoire. Diana was a member of the Irish national television choir, RTÉ Cór Linn. She also has  experience as a soloist with vocal ensembles and has been involved in various other chamber music. Additionally, Diana attended the Oxenfoord International Summer School in Scotland in 2024, where she performed in masterclasses and had coaching sessions with some of Britain’s most prolific vocal coaches. 

OPERA GALA SINGERS 

Ami Hewitt 

Ami Hewitt is a soprano from Dublin, Ireland. Her recent roles include Elvira in L’italiana in Algeri (Rossini) and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi (Puccini) at Wexford Festival Opera, The Controller in Flight (Dove) with Opera Collective Ireland, Sophie in Lyric Opera Ireland’s production of Werther, and Kitty in Retrospect Opera’s recording of Stanford’s Shamus O’Brien with the orchestra of Scottish Opera conducted by David Parry. Ami was a studio member with INO, a young artist with Wexford Festival Opera, and a member of the young singers collective with Le Foyer des Artistes. She is currently participating in a concert tour of France and Italy with Opera for Peace.   

Deirdre Higgins 

Soprano Deirdre Higgins is in her second year at the Irish National Opera Studio and looks forward to her Irish National Opera debut this summer, where she will sing Gianetta in L’elisir d’amore (Donizetti). She has also worked with Wexford Festival Opera, and in 2024 performed Eileen O’Doherty in the premiere of Caruso’s Lady Gregory in America. Deirdre has received many awards including the Gervase Elwes Memorial Cup (2023), Birr Lion’s Club Bursary (2023) and the Bernadette Greevy Bursary (2024). In July 2024 Deirdre made her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra as part of its Summer Lunchtime Concert Series at the National Concert Hall. 

Maria Matthews 

Maria Matthews is an Irish soprano and graduate of the TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Drama. She also holds a Master of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Maria is a Wexford Opera Festival Factory Artist for the 2024-2025 season where she will perform the roles of Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and both Adina and Gianetta in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. Maria performs regularly with Irish National Opera as a chorus member, most recently in their productions of Gounod’s Faust, Puccini’s La bohème and Verdi’s La traviata. In opera scenes Maria has portrayed roles including: Mimì (La bohème), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) and Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes). Maria took part in the 2021 Raise Our Voices and 2023 Celebrating the Voice concert series, both curated by Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught. In 2021 she was the winner of the Birr Lyons Vocal Bursary in conjunction with the Trench Award, and in 2023 Maria was a Camerata Ireland Young Artist and a Voice Fellow at Opernfest Prague where she had the opportunity to sing with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in Smetana Hall. 

Cathal McCabe 

Cathal McCabe is a tenor from Dublin. He is a Studio Artist with Irish National Opera for the 2024-2025 season. He obtained a First Class honours from the TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Drama, where he received the Michael McNamara award for the highest performance mark, as well as the Anne Leahy award for highest dissertation mark. In 2023, he won the Song Prize at Northen Ireland Opera’s Glenarm Festival of Voice. He has won multiple awards at the Feis Ceoil, including the John McCormack Cup, the Dermot Troy Cup, and the Count John McCormack Recital Medal. Cathal performs regularly with Irish National Opera and Northern Ireland Opera. In 2024, he will sing the role of Shouter No. 1 in Lady Gregory in America at Wexford Festival Opera. He sang the role of Nanki-Poo in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado in the National Concert Hall, and the role of Henry Crawford in the Irish premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park. 

(ENDS)