Programme

La Speranza - Handel

Ombra Mai Fu - Handel

Frühlingsglaube - Schubert

Du bist die Ruh - Schubert

Printemps qui commence from Samson et Dalila - Saint-Saëns

Va! Laisse couler mes larmes from Werther - Massenet

Two songs from George Petrie's collection of Ancient Music of Ireland (trans S Shaw)

Suantraí 

Amhrán an Earraigh 

Spring Sorrow - John Ireland

The Year's at the Spring - Amy Beach

Clíona McDonough

Clíona commenced her musical training in the Royal Irish Academy of Music studying piano, and began her vocal studies journey with Mary Brennan in the former DIT Conservatory of Music. She furthered her studies with Dr Veronica Dunne and Ian Barr in London. She is currently working with Patricia Bardon in London. She holds Licentiate and Fellowship diplomas in singing performance and teaching. She graduated from TCD with a BA Mod in Music and Irish and furthered her studies in NUI Maynooth where she was awarded a firstclass honours MA in Performance and Musicology. For a period, she was a member of the National Chamber Choir and St Teresa’s Choir, Clarendon St.

She has been sought after as an alto/mezzo-soprano soloist with many of Ireland’s leading choral societies and orchestras over the years, having appeared as soloist with the following: Bray Choral Society; Cantairí Avondale; Christ Church Baroque; Culwick Choral Society; Dublin Bach Singers; Dublin County Choir; Enchiriadis Treis; Fermanagh Choral Society; Maynooth Choral Society; Orchestra of St Cecilia; Our Lady’s Choral Society; St George’s Singers, Belfast; Tallaght Choral Society; Tokyo Oratorio Society; TCD and UCD Choral Societies; TCD Chamber Choir and Tralee Choral Society.

Her varied performances to date include oratorio works: Bach: The Christmas Oratorio; Cantatas 123,124, 154; St John’s Passion; Magnificat; Mass in B Minor; Mass in C – Beethoven; Ceremony of Carols – Britten; In the Beginning – Copland; Handel: Judas Maccabeus; Israel in Egypt; The Messiah; Haydn’s works : Mass in Time of War; Nelson Mass; Stabat Mater; Harmonie Mass; Maria-Theresa Mass; Jenkins – The Armed Man; The Peacemakers; Mendlessohn’s Elijah; Walpurgisnacht; Mozart’s Requiem; Vespers; Mass in C; Mass in D; Schumann’s Requiem for Mignon; Rachmaninov’s Vespers; Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle; Stabat Mater; Vivaldi’s Gloria. Her operatic performances include roles in The Magic Flute (Opera Ireland); Dido and Aeneas (DCC) and Madama Butterfly (Lyric Opera Productions).

She has a particular interest in the concert platform repertoire of Baroque vocal music, German lied; French Chanson; American, English and Irish song.

Clíona is delighted to be collaborating with Mairéad Hurley and performing again in St Ann’s Church, Dawson St.

Mairéad Hurley

Mairéad Hurley studied piano under Rhona Marshall at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and music at UCD, graduating from there with a BMus and a Higher Diploma in Education. Further studies include the répétiteur course at the London National Opera Studio and a First-Class Honours MMus (performance) at TU Dublin Conservatoire. She was Head of Music at Opera Ireland from 1998 to 2010 and with a repertoire of over seventy operas, she has also worked for Wexford Festival Opera, Opera Theatre Company, Opera Northern Ireland, Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, Lyric Opera, RTE Proms, the NSO and the RTE Concert Orchestra. More recently, she has worked as chorus mistress for Blackwater Valley Opera Festival.

Mairéad performs regularly in recital both at home and abroad and has officiated at many music festivals and Masterclasses throughout her career. From 2010 until 2021, she was Head of Vocal, Opera and Drama studies at TU Dublin Conservatoire. She continues her work in the Conservatoire as répétiteur in the vocal department and is external examiner for the MMus Performance in Répétiteur at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire. Mairéad is also a qualified and fully accredited psychotherapist, having graduated with an MSc in Integrative and Humanistic Psychotherapy from Turning Point Institute in 2023.