Young Artists Blog

An Afternoon of Opera Favourites

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:31:00 GMT

Opera Theatre Company's Young Associate Artists are delighted to be part of this year's West Cork Chamber Music Festival.

Nicola Mulligan and Dean Power will perform a concert of opera favourites, including arias and duets by Handel, Mozart, Verdi and Puccini, accompanied by Mairéad Hurley on piano.

Monday June 28th, 2pm

St Brendan's Hall, Wolfe Tone Square, Bantry.

Tickets: €5 (booking fee may apply)

Box Office: 027 527 88 (Mon-Fri, 10-5)

Philip Langridge

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:12:00 GMT

Opera Theatre Company would like to express its sincere sympathy to Ann Murray, patron of our Young Associate Artists Programme, on the passing of her husband Philip Langridge: we send our condolences to all his family and friends.

Alongside his performance career, Philip Langridge was well-known for his masterclasses with young singers. Those of our young artists, who had the honour of working with him, join the company in this expression of sympathy.

An Abundance of Achievement, a Plenitude of Praise

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:19:00 GMT

Congratulations to YAA Alumnus, Anna Devin, on her acceptance on the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, London. Following a record number of applicants to the Programme, Anna was one of just five singers who will join the Programme in September 2010.

YAA alumnus Claudia Boyle also deserves congratulations on her acceptance onto The Salzburg Festival's Young Singers Project, including covering the title role of Lulu in the main festival.

Another alumnus, John-Owen Miley-Read has been accepted onto the Masters course at the Royal Academy of Music, as have current Young Artists, Ross Scanlon and Rachel Kelly.

Well done also to Dean Power, Tenor and current member of the Young Associate Artists Programme on being awarded 3rd prize in the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition. He was also awarded the prizes for Best Irish Singer, Best Male Singer and best performance of an aria from an opera or oratorio by Handel. Current Young Artists Gavan Ring, Rachel Kelly and Gabriela Istoc, and YAA alumnus Claudia Boyle, all reached the semi-final, a grand achievement.

Current YAAs Gabriela Istoc and Chloe Hinton have also been responsible for reflecting glory on OTC's unique programme for young artists: Gabriela won the second prize at Iris Adami Corradetti Competition in Padova, being also awarded "borsa di studio" for the best young singer; Chloe has been accepted onto the prestigious Glyndebourne Chorus for their 2010 season.

We are very proud of you all - well done!

Young Artists at Renvyle House Hotel

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:14:00 GMT

Our Young Artists will once again travel to Galway, to the wonderful Renvyle House Hotel for a weekend of Opera. This has become a regular event, something our Young Artists very much look forward to, where they have the opportunity to meet with their audience after each performance, enjoying the weekend as guests of Renvyle House Hotel and true lovers of opera and song, as well as experiencing yet another professional performance opportunity as part of OTC's Young Associate Artists Programme.

This weekend also provides OTC supporters who are particularly interested in the Young Associate Artists Programme to meet with them - and maybe even pick up a tip or two for the evening's sing-song later in the bar - in the luxurious surroundings of Renvyle House Hotel.

Commencing Friday 26th February
Price €195pp, including 2 nights B&B, 1 dinner, 2 performances (& Govt tax & service charge).
Go to the Renvyle website for details or call 095 43511.

Young Associate Artists' Programme 2009/2010

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:15:00 GMT

Exciting times ahead for OTC’s Young Associate Artists' Programme (YAAP). We are delighted to announce the addition of five new Young Associate Artists to our programme. Auditions were held in early June 2009 and the audition panel were overwhelmed by the breadth and talent of the young Irish-based singers who auditioned for the programme. It led to OTC taking more singers on the programme than ever before. Along with previous YAAs Dean Power and Gavan Ring there will be seven young artists working in association with OTC during 2009/2010.

OTC is the only opera company in Ireland that runs a programme of this kind and provides support to young singers at this pivotal point in their development. In the competitive opera world it is so important that each young singer considers their career and gains any possible advantage. Already in September all seven of the Young Artist’s worked with Internationally respected vocal coach and Artistic Director of the Curtis Opera Theatre at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, Mikael Eliasen. This was made possible with the assistance of the Royal Irish Academy of Music with whom the YAA programme has strong associations. Two of our new YAA’s, Chloe Hinton and Ross Scanlon are students of DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and it is wonderful to maintain these associations with the vocal studies departments in both the RIAM and the DIT.

Also in September/October, Gabriela Istoc, Soprano and Chloe Hinton, Mezzo Soprano perform with Opera Club as part of OTC’s education and outreach work. The young singers sing the roles of Morgana and Bradamante in an exploration of Alcina in advance of OTC's full-scale opera production.

Over the coming months the YAA’s will work with Vocal Consultant of the YAA Programme, Brenda Hurley and some other exciting names that will come to perform in Ireland - watch this space! The YAA’s will also benefit from individual coaching sessions with specialist language coaches, repetiteurs and arts professionals. A real highlight of the year for the Young Artist’s will be the opportunity to sing with Patron of the YAA programme, Ann Murray DBE and Chair of OTC, Virginia Kerr at the National Concert Hall on 9th January 2010.

Undoubtedly there are busy times ahead for our Young Artists.

Young Associate Artists 2009/2010

Gabriela Istoc, Soprano             Rachel Kelly, Mezzo Soprano
Chloe Hinton, Mezzo Soprano   Ross Scanlon, Tenor
Dean Power, Tenor                    Christopher Cull, Baritone
Gavan Ring, Baritone

YAAP 2009/2010 Application Information

Tue, 19 May 2009 09:37:00 GMT

Opera Theatre Company invites applications for its Young Associate Artists’ Programme for the academic year 2009/2010.

The YAAP is aimed at young Irish or Ireland-based singers.

who have completed their formal studies and are at the outset of a professional singing career

who are in their final year of formal studies on a performance degree or post-graduate performance degree.

Auditions for the Programme will take place in Dublin on Monday 1 June 2009.

Singers who wish to be considered for audition should e-mail a covering letter stating their reasons for wishing to join the programme along with their Curriculum Vitae and headshot, no later than Friday 15th May 2009, to Artistic Administrator Dermot O'Callaghan.

As A New Year Begins Young Artists' Update

Sun, 17 May 2009 14:48:00 GMT

Autumn 2008 proved a busy time for our Young Artists, both on the YAA Programme and in their academic pursuits.In early October, Claudia Boyle and Gavan Ring had the good fortune to be selected to participate in a masterclass at the National Concert Hall with our Programme’s Patron, Ann Murray. Ann will be back in Dublin in January to present another masterclass with our partners in the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Baroque expert Christian Curnyn, no stranger to OTC audiences himself, having taken the reins on previous productions of Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea and Handel’s Orlando, took time out from his triumphant English National Opera debut in Handel’s Partenope to travel to Dublin for two days, for a series of one-on-one coaching sessions with the YAA, as well as a wonderful masterclass for students at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The repsonse from both the YAA and the students at the RIAM was a resounding “May we have him back soon, please?” and I am delighted that he will indeed be returning to these shores in Autumn 2009 when he joins our Artistic Director Annilese Miskimmon to conjure up more baroque magic in our new production of Handel’s Alcina – keep an eye on our website for further details.

It was a real coup to have our esteemed Vocal Consultant Brenda Hurley in Dublin for a whole week to work intensively with the Young Artists. Brenda is delighted with the progress of Claudia, Gavan, Dean Power and John-Owen Miley-Read, and is hoping to work with them again over the festive season when she will be back in Dublin to prepare for her next journey to The Metropolitan Opera in New York where she will be working on Bellini’s La sonnambula with Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Floréz.

There will be no let-up in the new year for the YAA – Claudia, Dean and Gavan will be singing the principal roles in the RIAM production of Mozart’s delightful comedy La finta giardiniera which is directed by Annilese Miskimmon and conducted by David Adams.

Meanwhile, John-Owen will be preparing for the next important step in his career when he leaves these shores in March to join the Glyndebourne Chorus – a path already trod by Programme Alumni Máire Flavin and Martha Bredin. All this, as well as more coaching with Ann Murray, Rupert Dussman, Ingrid Surgenor, plus education workshops to coincide with our upcoming production of Xerxes – all the more reason to wish them well for 2009!