A new year stretches before us,
with new music and new projects but first let’s take a look back at December.
We are so grateful for the lovely compliments and excellent feedback we
received on our Christmas concerts. From Ballybunion, Tralee, Killarney and
Listowel, the response to our performances has been so very positive and kind.
We in the choir were delighted to be part of all these events.
We would like to thank St. Joseph’s, the Kerry Parents and Friends Association and The O’Neill Sisters for inviting us to perform for and with them. We enjoyed every minute.
We would also like to thank the
Duhallow Choral Society, Miriam Murphy and Paula Murrihy for accepting our
invitation to perform with us in Tralee. What a fantastic evening! We hope you
all enjoyed it as much as we did.
We’re back to rehearsals tonight
for the new season, with two concerts already planned for April. If any of you
fancy taking up choral singing as a new hobby for 2019, why not come along and
see what we get up to. You won’t have to audition in front of a room full of
people, just come along 10 to 15 minutes early to sing through some scales with
Sharon so she knows where to put you. New members are always welcome. Existing
members: have your music sorted and water bottles ready to go, it’s time to
sing!
Thank you to all who participated in and attended our Christmas concerts. We are as ever hugely grateful for your support. Now we’re all off to put our feet up and have a mince pie or two before throwing ourselves into the final preparations for the big day itself. Merry Christmas everyone!
Irish Mezzo-Soprano Paula Murrihy
received her Bachelor of Music from DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama in
Dublin before continuing her studies in North America at the New England
Conservatory. She also participated in the Britten-Pears Young Artist
Programme, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, as an apprentice at Santa Fe
Opera, and was a member of Oper Frankfurt’s acclaimed ensemble
Paula made her role debut as Carmen to critical acclaim
with the highly successful team behind Dido and
Aeneas – Barrie Kosky and Constantinos Carydis. She
maintains a close connection with the United States and has appeared as Ino in Semele for Boston Lyric
Opera, 2nd Lady Die
Zauberflöte at Santa Fe Opera, and Dido for Los Angeles
Opera. In Europe, Paula made her debut at Covent Garden as Tebaldo Don Carlo, and returned as Mercedes
Carmen. She
has appeared as Annio at the Théâtre Capitole Toulouse, and as Octavian Der Rosenkavalier at De
Nationale Opera Amsterdam and the Staatsoper Stuttgart. Recent highlights
include her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, as Stéphano Roméo et Juliette, appearances
at Santa Fe Opera as Ruggiero in Alcina and
Orlofsky Die Fledermaus,
Concepcion L’Heure
Espagnole for Opernhaus Zürich, her debut for Teatro Real
Madrid as Frances, Countess of Essex in David McVicar’s new production of Gloriana, 2nd Dame
Die Zauberflöte
for the Salzburg Festival and Sesto La Clemenza
di Tito at Nationale Opera Amsterdam.
On the concert platform Paula works regularly with MusicAeterna and Teodor Currentzis appearing in concert performances of Cosi fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro and Purcell’s Indian Queen, and at the Diaghilev Festival in Perm Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Hindemith’s Die Junge Magd. She made her debut at the BBC Proms in 2017 in Haydn’s Paukenmesse, and appeared with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris in Handel’s Messiah, the Spanish National Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Elijah.
An accomplished recitalist, Paula
has given performances at the Aldeburgh Festival, the Shannon International
Music Festival and the Chancellor’s Concert at the University of
Limerick. She recently gave a recital in Frankfurt with accompanist
Malcolm Martineau, and in Perm with accompanist Tanya Blaich.
In her 2018-19 season, appearances include
Komponist Ariadne aud Naxos
at Oper Frankfurt, Judit Bluebeard’s Castle
for the new Irish Opera Company in Dublin, and Idamante Idomeneo at the Salzburg
Festival. On the concert platform Paula joins Maestro Teodor Currentzis for a
European tour of Mahler Lied at the Munich Philharmonie, Teatro alla Scala,
Milan and Müpa Budapest. She will also sing Mussorgsky Songs & Dances of Death at
the Casa da Música, as well as recitals at the Wigmore Hall with pianist
Malcolm Martineau and tenor Robin Tritschler.
Hailed as one of Ireland’s most exciting dramatic sopranos, Miriam Murphy began her studies under Dr Veronica Dunne in Dublin and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London. She is a multi-prize winner and was the first prize winner at the inaugural Seattle International Wagner Competition; she has subsequently returned to Seattle to perform in their acclaimed Ring Cycle.
Following Miriam’s sensational
debut at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s
Macbeth for which she received unanimous critical acclaim, she has gone on to
sing roles at some of the world’s top opera houses. She has sung with Opera
National de Paris, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Seattle Opera, Welsh National
Opera, Opera North, ABAO Opera de Bilbao and Opera de Lille and The Royal Opera
House Covent Garden. Miriam sang Isolde in the first Irish performance in 62
years of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde with the NSO and WOO in Dublin.
Miriam is delighted to return
once more to sing with the KCU in her home town for this concert which has
become an essential start to the Christmas season in Tralee.
