For this delightful concert of works for voice and piano, pianists Lance Coburn and Soo Jung Ann are joined by soprano Rachel Croash, mezzo soprano Sharon Carty, tenor Gavan Ring and baritone Rory Musgrave for duos, trios and quartets. With a selection of familiar works by Schubert, including his piano duet in F minor, a selection of humorous songs by Liza Lehmann, the concert ends with waltzes from Brahms’ love songs for the six musicians.
Schubert Licht and Liebe
Lehmann A selection of songs from Alice in Wonderland
Schubert The Lord is my Shepherd
Schubert Fantaisie for piano, 4 hands in F minor, D. 940
Brahms Liebeslieder-Walzer Op.52
This concert will last approximately 1 hour, without intermission. Tickets to attend will be €20 and the capacity will not exceed 100 people. Please note that it is subject to change based on new Covid-19 restrictions.
Rachel Croash soprano
Soprano Rachel Croash is an alumnus of the Irish National Opera Studio and was a finalist in the 9th Festspiele Immling International Singing Competition where she later performed the role of Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Gilda in scenes from Rigoletto in the Verdi Gala of the Festival. Other awards include the Wexford Festival Opera Aria Friends Award and the WFO & PwC Emerging Artist Fellowship. Concert and recital highlights include performances with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Drogheda International Classical Music Series, Our Lady’s Choral Society, Music in Great Irish Houses Festival, Music for Galway, Sligo Con Brio, the Contemporary Music Center and the Metropolitan Club, New York. In 2018 Rachel had the privilege of performing with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Áras an Uachtaráin for Irish President Michael D. Higgins in a special concert to honor all charities of which the President is a patron.
Recordings include ‘Press Closer’ from Michael Gallen’s suite Wilde Stories, commissioned by RTÉ Lyric Fm and Una in Robert O’Dwyer’s Eithne with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Rachel performed as a guest soloist on RTÉ’s Carols from the Castle in 2018 with the RTE Concert Orchestra under conductor Stephen Bell. A former artist with the Opera Theater Company HUB, Rachel earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Maynooth University, followed by a Masters in Music Performance from the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Sharon Carty mezzo-soprano
Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty has firmly established herself as a respected performer of early and contemporary works, while maintaining a busy schedule in mainstream opera and concert repertoire. She is an alumnus of RIAM Dublin, MDW Vienna and Frankfurt Opera’s Young Artists Programme, and is currently an artistic partner of the Irish National Opera as well as a creative associate in the ‘Creative Schools’ pilot programme. Irish Arts Council. Regularly hailed for her musicality and intelligence, her integrity as an artist, and the warmth, clarity, and agility of her voice, her operatic repertoire includes many important operatic and coloratura mezzo-soprano roles, such as Hansel, Dido, Ruggiero, Dorabella, Cherubino, Ariodante, Orfeo and Sesto. On the concert platform, his repertoire covers most major sacred concert works, including all major works by JS Bach as well as Messiah, Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor and a vast repertoire of songs in addition to numerous works chamber music. She is also a dedicated song recitalist, appearing most recently in performances with pianists Finghin Collins, Jonathan Ware and Graham Johnson. Career highlights to date include her London and Amsterdam operatic debut with The Second Violinist at the Barbican Theater and Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, her Wexford Festival Opera debut as Lucy Talbot in the first European version of William Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight, the title role in Irish Orfeo ed Euridice from the critically acclaimed National Opera and her debut at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, where she premiered a new opera, Proserpine by Silvia Colasanti, critically acclaimed. A regular contributor to orchestras across Europe, her discography includes La Traviata on DVD from Naxos with the NDR Radiophilharmonie alongside Thomas Hampson and Marina Rebeka and The Mountebanks (Gilbert/Cellier) on CD with the BBC Concert Orchestra. His latest CD, a disc of Schubert songs with pianist Jonathan Ware, was released in May 2020.
Gavan Ring tenor
Originally from Cahersiveen in County Kerry, Irish tenor Dr Gavan Ring studied at the Schola Cantorum at St Finian’s College Mullingar before studying education and music at Dublin City University. A former student of the National Opera Studio in London, Gavan is also the first opera singer and youngest graduate to complete doctoral studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Gavan’s groundbreaking doctoral research on Robert O’Dwyer’s Irish-language opera Eithne led to the work’s first performance in 107 years.
Concert highlights include performances with the London Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms and the Lucerne Festival under Sir Simon Rattle, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Royal Festival Hall under Sir Mark Elder and the Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Prinzregententheater conducted by Keri Lynn-Wilson. Recital work includes regular broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and RTÉ Lyric FM as well as appearances at Wigmore Hall, the Oxford Lieder Festival and the Ludlow English Song Festival working with pianists such as Simon Lepper, Graham Johnson, Eugene Asti, Sholto Kynoch and Iain Burnside. Opera highlights include principal roles at the Royal Opera of Versailles, Glyndebourne, Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Garsington Opera, Wexford Festival Opera and Opera Holland Park. Discography includes Rossini: Sigismondo (Bayerischen Rundfunks 2019), O’Dwyer: Eithne (RTÉ Lyric FM 2018), Gilbert and Sullivan: HMS Pinafore (Linn Records 2016), Offenbach: Fantasio (Opera Rara 2014) and Fleischmann: Orchestral Works ( RTÉ FM lyric 2010). Gavan is kindly supported by Howard Gatiss, Arts Council Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Skellig Six 18 Distillery and Michael and Giancarla Alen-Buckley.
Baritone Rory Musgrave
Rory recently made her international operatic debut performing the role of Young Kelvin in the Asian premiere of Dai Fugikura’s Solaris (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Japan). Other recent roles include Dr. Falke Die Fledermaus (Lyric Opera Studio Weimar, Germany), Schaunard La bohème (Lyric Opera Productions & Boyle Arts Festival), Le Podestat Le Docteur Miracle (Wexford Festival Opera/The Merrion Hotel), Silvio Pagliacci (Cork Opera House), Mayor of Youghal Vagabones (Opera Collective Ireland – World Premiere, National Tour), Taddeo L’italiana in Algeri (Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, formerly Lismore Opera Festival) and Eumete The Return of Ulysses (Opera Collective Ireland ). Rory, a founding member of Irish Opera Artists, has given numerous concerts and recitals, including at the National Concert Hall, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Clifden Arts Festival and Wexford Festival Opera. He made his debut with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in 2015, as a guest soloist in their Lunchtime Concert Series and has gone on to perform with many other ensembles including Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Crash Ensemble. Rory Musgrave, a baritone from Connemara, Ireland, graduated from the Royal Irish Academy of Music, with a Masters in Vocal Performance, and has gone on to work with all of Ireland’s major opera companies. An OTC Opera Hub Emerging Artist with Opera Theater Company (2014 – 2016), Rory has also been awarded the PWC Emerging Artist Fellowship and the Wexford Festival Opera Arnholm Fellowship.
PianoLance Coburn
Lance Coburn is a charismatic performer with exceptional ease. He has performed with most of the major Australian orchestras including the Sydney Symphony and many international symphony orchestras including the RTÉ NSO and the WDR Rundfunkkorchester Köln. Beginning his studies in his native New Zealand, Lance graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with the school’s highest honours. He continued his studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. During his studies, Lance was the recipient of numerous first prizes. Lance’s reputation as a chamber musician has grown in recent years. He plays regularly with Ireland’s top chamber musicians and recently collaborated on a critically acclaimed CD collection of Esposito sonatas with violinist Mia Cooper and cellist William Butt. Frequently judging at Irish music festivals, Lance also gives masterclasses internationally. He is a piano teacher at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. Lance is a Bluthner artist.
Soo Jung Ann piano
South Korean pianist Soo-Jung Ann crosses, expands and recreates the boundaries of music. She established her career as a major pianist by winning numerous awards at renowned international piano competitions. A multi-award winning pianist based in Europe, she has since been a leading force in 21st century classical music internationally, performing widely across Europe with major orchestras. Since winning first prize at the Beethoven Competition in Bonn, Ann has been hailed as the next Beethoven specialist after legendary pianist Professor John O’Conor. Her ability to transport audiences into an emotionally engaging musical world that transcends boundaries of all kinds makes Ann the gem of her generation. Ann studied with Professor Pavel Gililov and completed a postgraduate course at Mozarteum University Salzburg in 2014. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Music Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she holds a Masters, cultivating and refining his skills even further with Prof. John O’Conor and Prof. Therese Fahy. She released her own recording of Soler’s 12 keyboard sonatas n°75-86 (2018) with Naxos.
All concerts take place at St. Peter’s Church in Ireland, Drogheda and will follow and adhere to government guidelines on Covid-19. Tickets cost €20 and can be booked through the Droichead Arts Center on 041 9833946 or www.droichead.com with more information available from www.droghedaclassicalmusic.com
The series is funded by the Arts Council and Louth County Council and run in partnership with the Droichead Arts Center with sponsorship from WhiteLight Events, the d Hotel and RTÉ Supporting the Arts.
