Soprano Judith Lyons and Mezzo-Soprano Margaret Bridge present a lunchtime recital of arias and duets from cantatas and oratorios by Bach and Handel. Join them to hear favourites from The Passion, Messiah as well as lesser known pieces, and to learn the difference between a cantata and an oratorio, with a whistlestop history of both.  Programme J.S. Bach (1685-1750) Du Wahrer Gott und David's Sohn, BWV 23 “Ich folge dir gleichfalls” “Es ist Vollbracht” from St. John’s Passion, BWV 245 “So ist mein Jesus gefangen” from St. Matthew’s Passion, BWV 244 G.F. Handel (1685-1759) “Endless Pleasure” “Hence Iris, Hence Away” “Prepare Then, Ye Immortal Choir” from Semele, HWV 58 “He shall feed his flock” “How beautiful are the feet” from Messiah, HWV 56 No, Di voi non vo fidarmi, HWV 189 Margaret Bridge Irish mezzo-soprano Margaret Bridge is delighted to be presenting this program of duets and arias with one of her oldest friends! Highlights from her concert career so far include Handel’s Messiah in a semi-staged performance with Sestina (April 2022), Philip Wilby’s An English Passion with Belfast Cathedral Choir (April 2022), De Falla’s El Amor Brujo with the Ulster Orchestra (September 2018), Corigliano’s Fern Hill and DiOrio's All Is with Back Bay chorale Boston (March 2018), Bach’s Cantata 63 (Dec 2015) and Weihnachtsoratorium (Dec 2014) with the Goethe Institut choir in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, and Vivaldi’s Gloria at Léran Music festival, France, (June 2013). On the opera stage, her repertoire ranges from early baroque through classical and romantic, right up to contemporary music and her roles include Flora (La Traviata, Northern Ireland Opera 2022), Dorinda (The Tempest, Henry Purcell Society of Boston), Mrs Monday (If You Can Find Me - Sondheim Revue, Northern Ireland Opera Studio),  Maddalena (cover) (Rigoletto, Northern Ireland Opera), Melanto (The Return of Ulysses, Opera Collective Ireland), Elaine (Later the Same Evening, Opera Memphis), Prince Charmant (Cendrillon, NEC), Agrippina (Agrippina, NEC), Hen/Pasek’s wife (Příhody lišky Bystroušky, NEC), Erisbe (L’Ormindo, RIAM), Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte, extracts, RIAM), Journalist (Sensational!, RIAM), and the Cock (The Cunning Little Vixen, RIAM). Margaret has also workshopped a number of new operatic works, most recently Luke Murphy and Jerome Begin’s Arts Council funded research project, Mujina, in Dance Limerick in March 2020.  An avid ensemble singer, Margaret has sung for numerous projects with the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Handel and Haydn Society Boston, under the baton of Harry Christophers, and Chamber Choir Ireland. On the operatic stage, she has sung with the choruses of Wexford Festival Opera, Irish National Opera, Chautauqua Opera USA, and Wide Open Opera, and was due to sing with Glyndebourne Opera for the 2020 Festival, which was cancelled due to COVID-19. Margaret holds a B.A. in Musicology and Theory with first class honours and a foundation scholarship from Trinity College Dublin as well as graduate degrees in vocal performance from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and New England Conservatory, Boston. She was a studio artist with Northern Ireland Opera for the 2018-19 season and was also winner of the 2018 Deborah Voigt prize at NI Opera’s Festival of Voice. Outside of singing, Margaret also conducts and was a participant in the 2019-21 NCH Female Conductor’s Program, sponsored by Grant Thornton. Margaret used the COVID-enforced career break to pursue a Higher Diploma in Computer Science at University College Dublin and now enjoys juggling a day-job as a software engineer with an active performance career. Highlights this season include staged performances of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder for Northern Ireland Opera's Salon series in venues around Northern Ireland (next performance Derry, October), a European tour of Berlioz's Les Trojens with the Monteverdi Choir in August, and performances as the alto soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Ulster Consort in December. Judith Lyons Judith read music at Trinity College, Dublin where she was a Choral Scholar in Trinity Chapel Choir, a member of the University of Dublin Choral Society and a singer and conductor of the departmental chamber choir, Campanile.  In 2010, Judith was appointed the first ever female choral scholar in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin where she began singing, as a girl chorister, at the age of twelve. She has continued to develop her passion for choral music outside of St. Patrick’s, performing regularly as a member of internationally acclaimed New Dublin Voices, Sing & Tonics and Peregryne. Professionally Judith is the conducting assistant at St. Ann's Church Choir, Dublin, a Soprano Lay Vicar at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin and has performed with many other ensembles including Anúna and Ardú. Her solo engagements include Bach’s Magnificat, Mass in B minor, Cantata BWV140 and St. John Passion, Mozart's Mass in C minor, Coronation Mass, 'Credo' Mass, Vespers and The Magic Flute, Fauré’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s Kleine Orgelmesse.     Judith is the current director and founding member of Dulciana Vocal Ensemble, a chamber choir committed to performing the very best in music for upper voices from across the ages, with a particular emphasis on highlighting works by female composers. She is the choral tutor at The Lir Academy of Dramatic Arts, the music teacher and director of the choir and ensemble at Sandford Parish National School, classroom music teacher at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir School, and continues to assist the choirs at both Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Grammar School and the Cathedral itself.

Accompanist David Leigh