La bohème 2023 Programme

IRISH NATIONAL OPERA 

PRINCIPAL FUNDER 

A CO-PRODUCTION 

WITH OPÉRA ORCHESTRE 

NATIONAL MONTPELLIER, 

IN ASSOCIATION WITH BORD 

GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE 

SUPPORTING 

PARTNER 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

Special thanks to Artane School of Music.

GIACOMO PUCCINI 1858–1924 

LA BOHÈME 

1895 

A CO-PRODUCTION WITH OPÉRA ORCHESTRE NATIONAL MONTPELLIER, 

IN ASSOCIATION WITH BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE. 

OPERA IN FOUR ACTS 

Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica after Henry Murger’s Novel Scènes de 

la vie de bohème. 

First performance, Teatro Regio, Turin, 1 February 1896. 

First Irish performance, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, 25 August 1897. 

SUNG IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES 

Running time 2 hours and 30 minutes including 20-minute interval after Act II. 

PERFORMANCES 2023 

Monday 20 November Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin 

Wednesday 22 November Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin 

Thursday 23 November Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin 

Saturday 25 November Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin 

Sunday 26 November Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Dublin AUDIO DESCRIBED 

#INOlabohème 

03

A LONG AND WINDING 

ROAD 

FERGUS SHEIL 

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 

Four years ago this month Irish National Opera produced Rossini’s La 

Cenerentola here at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre with Tara Erraught 

in the title role. It was a truly captivating production directed by Orpha 

Phelan and designed by Nicky Shaw. It opened to rave reviews, and later 

became the first opera production to be nominated in the wider best 

production category in The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards. Within a 

few days of the opening, I asked Orpha and Nicky to work their magic 

on Puccini’s La bohème, for a production to open in March 2021. 

It has been a long and winding road since then, and I’m excited that 

we can finally bring this production to the stage. During the dark 

days of lockdowns, we managed to give a live streamed concert 

performance from the the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre stage. We also 

made a CD recording for Signum Classics, which you can purchase 

in the foyer tonight, or listen to and download online. 

We even explored the possibility of making a film of the opera. But 

the circumstances were too unpredictable and risky. Instead, we 

resolved to bring the production to the opera stage as soon as we 

possibly could. So, here we are! And we are excited about having 

added a new co-production partner, Opéra Orchestre National 

Montpellier, who will present this production in 2024; and we also 

hope to see it go on to other companies in Europe. 

The Russian writer Anton Chekhov is said to have repeatedly 

advised young playwrights not to put a gun on stage unless you 

are prepared to use it. The same can be said of coughs in opera. 

A single cough in an opera production can be enough to lead 

to a fatal outcome. We have not one, but two doomed sopranos 

in our 2023–24 season, both from extraordinary Italian operas 

(La bohème and Verdi’s La traviata) which are set in Paris. The 

two leading ladies suffer from tuberculosis, and each is in a 

complicated relationship with a tenor. 

04

There are many reasons why I love La bohème. The four struggling artists sharing a room 

remind me of earlier times in my own life that were youthfully free-flowing, idealistic, 

spontaneous and carefree. Times when more energy was spent on talking and thinking about 

things than actually making them happen. Where the possibility of romance and falling in love 

was ever-present and the possibilities were intoxicating. 

Puccini knows how to create a beguiling world, and he is a master of taking us to the emotional 

core of a situation. But he is a verismo composer with an overarching interest in creating realism. 

So most of the characters also have flaws and dark sides to their makeup. As the opera starts 

Musetta and Marcello have already split up, and she is off with a rich older man, Alcindoro, who 

she ditches when it suits her. Schaunard speaks more than he listens and Colline is in a world of 

his own. Our central couple, Rodolfo and Mimì, also suffer from his excessive jealousy. 

Mimì is interesting. She “accidentally” drops her key in the dark on first meeting Rodolfo and 

prolongs their encounter. She doesn’t always go to Mass, but she does pray. At the end of Act I, 

as the lovers come together, it’s she who is steering events, not Rodolfo. She does look around 

at attractive passers by in the Café Momus, inflaming Rodolfo’s jealousy. Later, after they have 

broken up, she is reported to be off in an elaborate carriage with a Marquis. Does she know that 

her time is limited? She is absolutely going to make the most of every moment. 

Mimì is a signature role for tonight’s soprano, INO favourite Celine Byrne. Celine sings the role 

exquisitely and touchingly, and I can’t wait to hear her once again take us through the peaks 

and troughs of Mimì’s tragic journey. A big welcome back for singers returning to INO: Sarah 

Brady (Musetta), Gyula Nagy (Schaunard), Lukas Jakobski (Colline) and, of course, tenor 

Merūnas Vitulskis, who took part in our 2021 live stream and recording. I’m also looking forward 

hugely to the Irish debut of the wonderful Ukranian baritone Iurii Samoilov. 

A final shout out to our amazing conductor Sergio Alapont. In 2021 he had to work with an 

orchestra and a chorus spread out with two-metre distancing. The unusually long physical 

distances between individual performers created a tough assignment for such intricate and 

ever-changing music. Sergio worked with astonishing energy and enthusiasm, without ever a 

hint of a complaint. I’m so delighted he has come back and can now work with an orchestra in 

the pit and singers on the stage, just the way everything needs to be! 

There are no distancing constraints in tonight’s performance. So sit back and enjoy the show. 

05

THE MANY FACES OF OPERA 

DIEGO FASCIATI 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 

Welcome to Irish National Opera’s production of the perennially 

beloved tear-jerker that is Giacomo Puccini’s first great hit, La 

bohème. I must admit that the first time I saw this opera, in a 

televised version, I was disappointed. I thought the plot boring and 

pointless. I was clearly too young to grasp the emotional weight 

of the music or empathise with the complexities of the storm of 

passion, jealousy and loss that is romantic love. But musical tastes 

and emotional awareness mature over time for most of us, and now 

I find myself believing that La bohème is Puccini’s masterpiece. 

The opera finds its origins in a series of individually-published short 

stories in a literary magazine in 1840s Paris, under the heading 

Scènes de la bohème. These were adapted into a play, La vie de la 

bohème. The remarkable success of the play led to publication of the 

stories in a single volume, a novel of sorts, titled Scènes de la vie de 

bohème. The Italian playwright/poet duo of Luigi Illica and Giuseppe 

Giacosa adapted this into an extraordinary libretto, condensing stories 

and characters into a work that allowed Puccini’s music to infuse 

them with emotion writ large. The work is a showcase of Puccini’s 

skills in music and theatre. He can create everything and anything 

through his music, from the dizzying effect of swirling crowd scenes 

to intimate moments calculated to break your heart. 

La bohème is our third production of a Puccini opera, following Tosca 

in 2022, with the highy-charged Sinéad Campbell-Wallace in the 

harrowing title role, and Madama Butterfly in 2019, which starred 

tonight’s Mimì, the extraordinarily affecting soprano Celine Byrne, in 

the title role. And it is INO’s 32nd live opera production since its birth 

in 2018, and that’s not counting our concerts, online events, outdoor 

street art operas, opera films, and award-winning VR community 

opera. It’s quite an achievement, I think you’ll agree, especially when 

you factor in the various pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions 

we all endured for almost two years. We are also proud of another 

statistic.To date, we have presented our work in 47 different locations 

06

in Ireland. Our commitment to bringing opera to all corners of the country is something we take very 

seriously. In tandem with the productions we bring you on stages around the country, we also deliver 

programmes designed to engage and inspire school, youth and community groups. These come in 

various forms. An introduction to the various aspects of opera. Workshops where participants 

create their own work. Or our recent Explore and Sing Faust initiative, for which we invited 100 

singing enthusiasts to learn and perform a chorus from Gounod’s Faust in the Gaiety Theatre 

under the direction and encouragement of our artistic director Fergus Sheil. The event proved 

so popular that it was oversubscribed within days of its announcement. It is part of our goal as 

the national opera company to build a sustainable ecology of opera professionals as well as a 

vibrant community of opera enthusiasts. 

As some of you may already be aware, we continually experiment with technology and explore 

new forms of opera. Our virtual reality opera, Finola Merivale’s Out of the Ordinary/As an 

nGnách, has now been shown extensively in Ireland and we expect we will continue to tour 

this work nationally, and also internationally. We have developed an app, Isolde, available for 

Apple or Android phones that synchronises sound and image so that spectators can experience 

filmed opera projected outdoors using their own headphones with the audio streamed through 

their smartphones. We are currently exploring how we can further develop Isolde and add 

functionalities that will be of use to the wider cultural sector. 

None of our work would be possible without the unwavering support of our principal funder, the 

Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, to whom we are very grateful indeed. We also depend on the 

generosity and passion of our many INO members – their belief in the importance of opera and their 

solid backing of INO means the world to us. We also continue our work with corporations and business 

associations. We know that our values and reputation for high-quality work can lead to mutually 

beneficial arrangements. We are delighted to welcome INO Supporting Partner Barclays, a leader in 

retail, corporate and investment banking services, to a special event during our run of La bohème. 

And none of our work of the past six years would have been possible without the hard work and 

expertise of our core INO team or without the dedication, talent and generosity of spirit of hundreds 

and hundreds of artists, musicians and specialist technical personnel. We are grateful to each and 

every one of them. 

I hope you are looking forward as much as I am to tonight’s performance of La bohème, an opera 

which, at its heart, celebrates the power of art and love. 

07

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08

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Image: Soprano Claudia Boyle in the title role in Gerald Barry’s 

Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. ©ROH 2020. Photo: Clive Barda. 

07

DIRECTOR’S NOTE 

I’ve seen more performances of La bohème than I have any 

other opera. Yet it never fails to touch me. Why? Because of 

Puccini’s starting point: real people. This isn’t a piece about 

Roman gods and goddesses, or the nobility and their servants, 

or mythological creatures. It’s about people just like us, who 

struggle to find their way, fall in love and fight for what they 

hold dear. La bohème may be immensely sophisticated on one 

level, but on another it’s very simple and direct. When we see 

Mimì and Rodolfo, we see ourselves. 

ORPHA PHELAN 

Part of the joy and part of the problem of being asked to 

direct a new production of La bohème, is that it could be set 

anywhere and at any time. This deftly crafted piece would 

work equally well in Dublin in 2023 as when it was originally 

set in Paris in the 1830s. There are always young people, 

ready to fall in love and ready to risk everything for the sake of 

their dreams. 

Just before lockdown in 2020, I took a trip to Paris with my 

set and costume designer, Nicky Shaw, to investigate Scenes 

of Bohemian Life, the stories of Henri Murger upon which 

Puccini based his opera. We wanted to immerse ourselves in 

the sights and smells and sounds of Paris while we searched 

for the starting point for our production. Like many artists 

before us, we were drawn to the city of love and romance in 

search of inspiration. 

Nicky and I meandered through the streets of Montmartre 

and the Latin Quarter, where Mimì and Rodolfo might have 

walked; we wandered in and out of art galleries where 

Marcello might have exhibited; we strayed into the grittier 

areas around Pigalle where Musetta might have lingered; we 

ate crepes and drank coffee in brasseries which might have 

10

Image: Orpha Phelan in 

rehearsal for Puccini’s 

La bohème. 

Photo: Ste Murray 

been called Momus. We spoke of the drive of creative people 

through all of Paris’s rich cultural history, from the French 

Baroque through to the avant-garde. But as we walked and 

talked about our Bohemians in particular, one period kept 

insisting upon itself. 

The interwar years, or the “Crazy Years”, as they were known, 

drew a variety of creative people to Paris from all over the 

world. Writers from Ernest Hemingway to James Joyce and 

Samuel Beckett, performers such as Josephine Baker and 

Édith Piaf, painters from Picasso to Dalí and Man Ray, as well 

as cinema makers, musicians and designers, flocked to the 

city in the wake of the First World War. Paris was their melting 

pot and it thrived with their idealism and optimism, without 

the knowledge of what lay around the corner. 

It occurred to me that this period mirrored the lives of Mimì 

and Rodolfo, whose romance blossoms quickly after their first 

chance meeting. But like Paris with a looming occupation, 

their love is doomed by ill health and poverty. With that, I knew 

that we had found the setting for our La bohème. 

11

OPERA ALL OVER – 

AND FOR EVERYONE 

Opera is our passion. And we want to share that 

passion. Not just through live events in cities and 

towns, large and small, but also through educational 

initiatives in schools and colleges, and community 

activities that appeal to young and old alike. 

OPERA WHEREVER YOU ARE 

We take our productions to all corners of the land, from Dublin to Galway, 

Tralee to Letterkenny, Wexford to Sligo. Our site-specific productions and 

outdoor screenings have taken our filmed productions to some of the most 

remote corners of Ireland. And our Street Art operas, created for outdoor 

projection, now use our Isolde app to work with mobile phones. This will 

allow us to increase our reach even further. Much of our content is available 

digitally online, and our partnership with OperaVision helps us reach people 

all over the world, with over 270,500 views on www.operavision.eu. 

Image: Students 

watching the INO film 

of Gerald Barry’s Alice’s 

Adventures Under 

Ground. 

Photo by PJ Malpas. 

TRAILBLAZING DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COMMUNITY 

In June 2022, our first youth opera, David Coonan and Carys D Coburn’s 

Horse Ape Bird, explored relationships between humans and animals, 

and gave young people the experience of performing in a professional 

operatic production. Our groundbreaking virtual reality community 

opera, Finola Merivale’s Out of the Ordinary/As an nGnách was first seen 

at Kilkenny Arts Festival and Dublin Fringe Festival in 2022. A month 

later, for World Opera Day, we brought together a pop-up chorus of 

100 choristers and opera enthusiasts to workshop and perform with a 

professional orchestra and soloists. This Explore and Sing initiative is 

now a regular feature of our work. Our pre-performance talks and online 

In Focus sessions delve into varied aspects of opera with opera makers, 

from the histories of specific works, the development of the characters, 

and the issues facing performers and composers. 

12

Image: Stephanie 

Dufresne in an outreach 

session with pupils of 

St Peter’s, Dunboyne, 

about INO’s production 

of Massenet’s Werther. 

Image, still from video by 

Charlie Jo Doherty. 

NURTURING THE NEXT GENERATION OF OPERA TALENT 

The professional development and employment of Irish artists are key to 

the success of Irish National Opera itself. The Irish National Opera Studio is 

our artistic development programme. It provides specially-tailored training, 

professional mentoring and high-level professional engagements for singers, 

répétiteurs, conductors, directors and composers whose success is crucial to 

the future development of opera in Ireland. We also work with third-level music 

students through workshops designed to give them a fuller understanding of 

the inner workings of the world of opera, that heady mixture of musical, artistic, 

theatrical and management skills that make possible the magic that is opera. 

Colleges and universities we have worked with include University College 

Dublin, National College of Art and Design, Maynooth University, University 

of Galway, TU Dublin, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, DCU, Trinity College 

Dublin and the MTU Cork School of Music. 

WE PRODUCE GREAT WORK 

Our commissioned works explore issues from climate change to mental 

health. We present opera in thought-provoking and relevant ways. We 

nurture and develop emerging talent to ensure that the Irish opera 

landscape provides equitable opportunities and pay. We champion gender 

equality in the creative teams we work with. Opera is for everyone, and we 

are committed to inclusivity and diversity. Everyone should have access and 

the opportunity to participate in opera. 

13

THE FIRST IR 

Michael Dervan puzzles over who might claim to have 

Who was the first Irish Mimì? Was it the great Margaret Burke- 

Sheridan, who sang the role at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome 

in February 1918? Indisputably yes, if your perspective is 

performances on major European stages. At home in Ireland 

Veronica Keary performed the role for the Dublin Operatic 

Society in 1934 and she was followed in 1938 by May Devitt, 

who would also give a string of performances for the Dublin 

Grand Opera Society in the 1940s. 

Cecile Lorraine photographed by 

Grouzelle Studios Sydney in 1901 

in connection with Musgrove Grand 

Opera Company performances of 

either Gounod’s Faust or Verdi’s 

La forza del destino in Australia. 

The inscription reads, “À Monsieur 

Thompson avec mes meilleurs vœux 

et remerciements pour sa gentillesse, 

Bien à vous, Cécile Lorraine, 1901.” 

Gerald Marr Thompson was drama, 

music and art critic of the Sydney 

Morning Herald. 

But there may be a case for a different singer, for Cecile Lorraine, 

the soprano who sang Mimì for the Carl Rosa Opera Company, the 

company which gave the first English performance in Manchester 

in April 1897, and the first Irish performance the following August. 

Dublin actually heard the work before the British capital. La 

bohème was not heard in London until the following October. 

Cecile Lorraine was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1868 or 

1869 and died in Hollywood, California, in 1941. In late 19thcentury 

newspapers she is described as having been born to 

English parents, to have trained in Europe, most notably under 

Mathilde Marchesi in Paris; and her career also took her beyond 

Europe and the US to Australia and New Zealand. She seems 

to have gravitated away from opera and towards the world of 

musical comedy, and obituaries describe her as a voice teacher. 

So, is there any Irish connection apart from her being the 

first singer ever to perform Mimì in Ireland? Well, maybe. Neil 

Gould’s book about the Dublin-born composer, conductor and 

cellist Victor Herbert (Victor Herbert, A Theatrical Life), has 

some information about an occasion when Cecile Lorraine 

and Victor Herbert worked together. In 1938 the singer wrote 

about it to the composer’s daughter. 

14

ISH MIMÌ? 

been the first Irish singer to take on the role of Mimì. 

Dear Miss Herbert: 

In the year 1899 I sang two concerts with the 

Pittsburgh Symphony orchestra, your father the 

conductor. When I arrived for rehearsal... I was 

given a seat on the stage and when the orchestral 

number was terminated your father came over to 

bid me welcome and repeated, “Lorraine–Lorraine– 

French?” “No,” I replied, “Irish!” Whereupon he gave 

me a good hearty handshake, and told me I was 

thrice welcome.” 

How did it come about that someone born in Boston to 

“English” parents would describe herself as Irish? The clue 

may be in the surnames of her parents. Her father was a 

Reilly, her mother a Hathaway. If indeed her father was Irish 

that connection would today make her Irish enough to don 

the jersey and play international football for Ireland. And that 

would surely also make her the first Irish soprano ever to sing 

the role of Mimì. 

Her singing of the role at the Gaiety Theatre in 1897 was 

warmly praised by Irish music critics. The response to 

Puccini’s music was more divided. Here some excerpts from 

the reviews of the Carl Rosa production that were printed 

the morning after the first night in The Freeman’s Journal 

(relatively sympathetic to Puccini) and the Irish Independent 

(decidedly against the composer and the work). 

15

Freeman’s Journal 

26 August 1897 

THE CARL ROSA OPERAS 

“LA BOHEME.” 

Last night the new opera of “La Boheme,” by Puccini, was 

performed for the first time at the Gaiety Theatre by the Carl Rosa 

Company. The House was crowded in every part, only standing 

room being available to those who had not secured seats or who 

came late. A sketch of the opera has already been given, the 

“Bohemians” being four reckless, adventurous youths and two 

fair but frail girls; and whilst from the characters and situations 

no one would expect any very profound or, indeed, impassioned 

music – though, indeed there are some tender love passages – on 

the other hand the work is very interesting because it is intensely 

modern in style and manner if not exactly of an original type. 

There is no overture but merely two or three bars of introduction, 

and then music and singers dash in media res, and Rudolph and 

Marcel are seen in their garret burning with enthusiasm for their 

respective arts of poetry and painting and shivering with physical 

cold. Throughout the scene, during their dialogue and after they 

are joined by their friends and the fainting Mimi, the musical 

treatment is in that style of melodious recitative or declamation, 

changeful and fitful, which distinguishes the modern operatic 

manner from the old-fashioned arias of prolonged and complete 

form. The orchestration is altogether to match, highly seasoned 

with kaleidoscopic changes and harmonious discords, and 

occasionally developing progression that would make the hair of 

the musical formalists of ancient date stand on end. But one good 

feature about the orchestration is that though it is thus highly 

coloured and seasoned is is never obstreperous, nor does it at 

any time drown the voices ...Mdlle Cecile Lorraine gave an artistic 

representation of the part of Mimi. The pathetic character of the 

role found in her a good exponent, and the vocal music of the part 

was rendered with tact and tenderness... 

16

Irish Independent 

26 August 1897 

THE CARL ROSA OPERA CO. 

“LA BOHEME.” 

...The Carl Rosa Company has introduced us to so many sterling 

works that when they hold forth promises of any new production 

we look naturally for an opera that is well worth hearing. But if the 

traditions of the company are to be maintained in this respect 

we are inclined to think that they had better leave such works 

as “La Boheme” severely alone so far as their Dublin season 

is concerned. The audience last night listened patiently to the 

performance, and quite recognised whatever merit it possessed. 

But it were a hard task to conceive a colder welcome to a new 

work than the audience last night gave Puccini’s masterpiece. 

Indeed although the curtain was rung up again at the conclusion 

of more than one act, the audience remained almost cruelly 

impassive, and one knew not whether to interpret their deep 

silence as an indication of emotions that were far too joyous and 

too deep for utterance, or of disappointment such as paralyses all 

one’s energies. The fact is that Puccini’s work is not as clever as 

it has been said to be... Miss Cecile Lorraine, a promising young 

artist, with a very sweet and pleasant voice, made her debut 

last night in the character of Mimi. She sang and acted ably: 

but we could have wished to hear her in a part that gave more 

opportunity for the display of her fine voice... 

17

17 – 31 MAY 2024 

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WAITING 

FOR SALOME 

“As a director, one of the things that 

interest me is Salome’s journey – 

from first appearance, a slightly 

frightened child, to curious, to desiring 

John the Baptist fiercely, eventually 

transforming, through the dance, into 

a determined and frightening woman. 

A journey from dream to nightmare. 

Strauss takes this story and delivers a 

shocking, punchy and thrilling opera.” 

BRUNO RAVELLA, DIRECTOR 

“Last March’s INO production of 

Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier has been 

my operatic highlight of the year. I 

am seriously excited at the prospect 

of more Strauss next March, and the 

passionate Salome at that! I cannot 

wait to see what the creative team – 

director Bruno Ravella and conductor 

Fergus Sheil from Der Rosenkavalier, 

with designer Leslie Travers in his INO 

debut – are going to conjure up for us.” 

JEAN FLITCROFT, AUTHOR AND INO MEMBER 

MARCH 2024 

NATIONAL OPERA HOUSE, WEXFORD 

SUN 3 MARCH CONCERT PERFORMANCE 

BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE, DUBLIN 

TUE 12 | THUR 14 | FRI 15 | SAT 16 MARCH 

BOOKING on www.irishnationalopera.ie 

Image: Ludwig Hohlwein’s poster for the Richard 

Strauss-Woche festival in Munich in 1910. 

“Salome has exquisite moments of 

beauty alongside music of the most 

extreme passion. I love its emotional 

range. It’s big, it’s bad, it’s sensual, it’s 

explosive. For me it’s a 100-minute 

non-stop roller coaster ride.” 

FERGUS SHEIL, CONDUCTOR 

“In art (if not life) the greatest rapture 

stems from endless longing – a 

fulfilment that’s endlessly, deliciously 

deferred. Which is why I find Strauss’s 

Salome one of the most sensuous, 

intoxicating works on the opera stage. 

Heady desire, spun out to its very limit 

in gorgeous arabesques of sound. 

Sinéad Campbell-Wallace as Salome is 

pure diamond casting.” 

LIZ NOLAN, RTÉ LYRIC FM PRESENTER 

19

SYNOPSIS 

ACT I 

CHRISTMAS EVE 

It’s Christmas Eve and the Bohemians are 

at home. Rodolfo, a writer, is working on a 

newspaper article while Marcello, an artist, 

is painting The Red Sea. Together with 

their philosopher friend Colline, they try 

to stay warm by burning one of Rodolfo’s 

manuscripts. Celebrations ensue when 

Schaunard, a musician, arrives home 

with proper fuel for the fire, food for their 

stomachs and money for entertainment. The 

boys are about to leave for a night on the 

town when Benoît drops by, demanding their 

overdue rent. Fast thinkers, they pull the wool 

over their bewildered landlord’s eyes before 

heading out to enjoy the Christmas festivities. 

However, Rodolfo must finish his writing 

assignment first, so he promises to join his 

friends soon at Café Momus. 

ACT II 

LATER THAT NIGHT 

The streets of Paris are thronged with lastminute 

shoppers, sellers and revellers. 

Rodolfo buys a little hat for Mimì as they 

walk hand in hand through the heaving 

markets. But Marcello is in a bad mood and is 

sickened by the cooing of new love. Recently 

rejected by Musetta, he’s determined to 

drown his sorrows in drink. 

It’s not long before Musetta herself turns up 

with her client, Alcindoro, in tow. When she 

sees that Marcello is ignoring her, she gets 

shot of her sugar daddy and uses her unique 

ways and means to break Marcello. The 

Bohemians take advantage of the hubbub 

created by the arrival of a marching band and 

slip away, leaving their huge bill to be paid by 

Alcindoro on his return. 

Mimì, a seamstress who lives nearby, knocks 

on the door in the search of a neighbour’s 

help. She seems to be a little unwell, but 

perks up when Rodolfo invites her in. He’s 

clearly taken with her and it’s not long before 

she notices that he’s rather special too. They 

leave together for Momus. 

20

ACT III 

A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER 

It’s the start of the day for some, while for 

others it’s time to head home to bed after a 

night out. Musetta and Marcello are trying to 

make a go of things, and are working together 

in a bar. Mimì seeks out Marcello in the hope 

that he can offer her some advice about her 

relationship with Rodolfo, who, she says, 

is moody and jealous. She hides when she 

sees Rodolfo approaching and eavesdrops 

on his conversation with Marcello. Before 

long Rodolfo reveals the real reason for his 

unhappiness: Mimì is dying. When Rodolfo 

spots Mimì, he attempts to cover up his 

brutal words. She tries to leave him but he 

lovingly persuades her to stay with him until 

the spring. While Mimì and Rodolfo reminisce 

tenderly, Marcello and Musetta argue bitterly. 

ACT IV 

THE SPRING 

Rodolfo and Marcello are almost destitute, 

with neither love nor creature comfort to 

soothe them. Still, they try to make the best 

of things with Schaunard and Colline. But 

when Musetta bursts in, they sense that 

things are about to get worse: she has found 

Mimì, alone and distraught outside. 

While Rodolfo tries to make Mimì 

comfortable, the rest of the friends leave to 

try to scrape together some basics. Alone 

together at last, Mimì can declare her deep 

love for Rodolfo. The Bohemians return with 

a hand warmer, some medicine and some 

money. But they bring too little, too late. 

21

BEING NIC 

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THE 

FIRST OPERA YOU WENT TO? 

Gosh, that is quite a hard question, because I just 

need to remember exactly what the first one was. 

I remember now. It was Britten’s Albert Herring 

at Glyndebourne, this sort of magical opera 

house in a country house in the middle of the 

Sussex Downs. I just didn’t know what to expect. 

And I think even if you already go to the opera, 

Glyndebourne is quite extraordinary because of its 

unique location – bucolic surroundings, but with 

an opera house. I absolutely give my age away 

by saying it was the old house [1934–1992]. 

I subsequently went on to work there, in my very 

early career as a young designer working as an 

assistant. And then when I had my debut there 

in 2016 it really was a dream come true. It is 

so magical and I think I sort of fell in love with 

it. I don’t remember an awful lot about Albert 

Herring, which perhaps isn’t a good thing. But I 

remember the experience and I remember the 

excitement of storytelling with music, and the 

Glyndebourne atmosphere. 

So that was my first opera experience. I was 

taken by an early boyfriend who was a huge 

lover of opera and had an enormous record 

collection. He just said, don’t be precious, just 

pick up a record. Put it on, if you like it, listen to 

the whole thing. If you don’t, put it back, pick 

up the next one. And he demystified listening 

to music. Whatever the genre of art, we should 

just go and enjoy and receive it purely. 

16 

Nicky Shaw. Photo: JoJo and Co Photography.

KY SHAW... 

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THE 

FIRST OPERA YOU DESIGNED? 

Again, that’s difficult. I’m thinking of the first 

things that I assisted on. I served a very long 

apprenticeship as an assistant designer, 

probably a good 10 years. I would have been 

in my early 30s when I designed my first 

opera. So I knew the profession. 

I had an extraordinary thing happen to me. I’d 

been assisting at La Monnaie in Brussels over 

a three-, four-year period with one designer in 

particular. And then I’d assisted Keith Warner 

with another designer. Someone had dropped 

out and Keith was looking for a designer quite 

quickly. He knew what he wanted for the set, 

so he was looking for a costume designer. And 

that was extraordinary because I’d had this 

very long career as an assistant in the studio 

of other designers, working on sets. And here I 

was, getting my huge big break at La Monnaie 

in costumes. 

I was working for a big, national, royal 

company with a big team, and they really, 

really looked after me. I did my research, it 

was set in the 1930s. I did all my costume 

drawings, but I didn’t really understand about 

fabric in the way I do now. I’m not trained as a 

costume maker. I mean, most designers don’t 

make themselves, as you know. I always say 

this to young designers, never be afraid. Even 

as a professional, never be afraid to say what 

you don’t know. And I asked the people at La 

Monnaie, please guide me, hold my hand. And 

they did. It was managed in a beautiful way. 

I got guidance with fabric choices, learning 

about cutting. They absolutely opened their 

arms to me and were very excited to help me. 

That was extraordinary. It was an enormous 

show, Verdi’s Macbeth. There were 70 odd 

in the chorus and they all had two costumes 

each. A baptism of fire, if ever there was one. 

WHAT WAS THE BEST OPERA-RELATED 

ADVICE YOU EVER GOT? 

I don’t know, there are so many. Well, again, I’m 

sort of thinking back to perhaps this first early 

La Monnaie experience and just how all theatre, 

all performing arts are collaborative. You must 

allow yourself access to use your colleagues 

and team, and allow them to use you. And not 

be afraid that you need to know everything 

yourself. Design is a jack of all trades sort of job, 

a little bit of architecture, a little bit of product 

design, a little bit of fashion design, all coming 

in together, plus the musical knowledge. 

I don’t know who would have said all this to me. 

Theatre, in a way, is all about problem solving. 

And that happens right up until the opening 

night, as you know. Things happen on stage 

that weren’t planned for. Things happen in the 

rehearsal room and things develop. So, from 

a design point of view, I was advised not to be 

intransigent, to be fluid, to allow the process 

to move and change things, which perhaps 

23

Image: model for the Act I set 

in La bohème. Photo Nicky Shaw 

becomes easier as you get older. Because you 

can trust the process more and not feel I have 

to have solved everything before we start. 

WHAT IS THE MOST ANNOYING 

MISCONCEPTION ABOUT OPERA? 

That it’s elitist. I speak as a UK resident and I’m 

thinking of the language around opera in the 

general press. People deem it to be glamorous 

in some instances, I’m sort of thinking of movies 

and things. But it is work, and those of us that 

work in it take it very seriously. It is a privilege 

as well to work in a world that you love and are 

passionate about, and not everyone gets to do 

that. But I do think, yes, the misconception of 

elitism, people feeling opera is not for them, 

without ever having experienced it, or maybe just 

having heard some opera arias. If a production 

is done well, anyone can accept and receive the 

story. But also it’s okay if you don’t like it. There’s 

over 400 years of music in the repertoire. 

There will be something in there that you like. 

WHAT MOMENT DO YOU MOST LOOK 

FORWARD TO WHEN YOU GO TO A 

PERFORMANCE OF LA BOHÈME? 

Gosh, that’s hard as a professional. 

Miraculously, this is my first own design of La 

bohème, though I have assisted on it. I try not to 

have expectations as a practitioner, to be open 

to how someone may have interpreted it, which 

might be very different to my own. My husband 

is an opera singer, classically trained. It’s 

always great when we go to the opera together 

because he’ll be more focused on the music 

and the singing technique which, unless it really 

goes awry, I don’t notice. Whereas I might be 

twitching because I don’t like the costumes 

or the scenery. But La bohème is such a story 

of life, real people, people we can recognise, 

perhaps, our younger selves. To rewind and 

answer your question. I think its the music, 

because it’s so famous, it’s the anticipation 

of the arias you’re going to hear. And I’m 

then open to what other designers may have 

produced and directors may have come up with. 

WHAT’S THE MOST CHALLENGING 

ASPECT OF DESIGNING LA BOHÈME? 

The challenge is there have been hundreds 

and hundreds and hundreds of productions. 

I haven’t seen hundreds myself. As a designer, 

I don’t look back at other productions. Of 

course, if I’m working on an opera and I’ve 

seen it, you have that in your mind. But I 

wouldn’t go and see a La bohème in the 

period leading up to designing it. Because 

sometimes you’re going to have the same idea 

as somebody else and that’s fine. We can’t 

all reinvent the wheel. The wheel exists and 

in some aspects you might make the same 

choice, but at least you’ve come to it freely 

through your own pathway. Orpha and 

24

I went to Paris for a trip together. And actually, 

I hadn’t done that in a very, very long time, 

actually go and do physical research. It was 

wonderful that we did that. Yes, the internet 

is amazing. And I have a big library at home 

of gorgeous art books and I do use them a lot. 

But there’s nothing like receiving architectural 

images and atmosphere at first-hand. 

DO YOU THINK AI WILL HAVE ANY 

EFFECT ON DESIGN IN OPERA? 

I’m not sure I know, because I’m not a 

designer who’s very technical. It’s lovely 

employing young designers as my assistants. 

I learned from working for experienced 

designers, so hopefully they learn from me. 

But I learn from them, because they bring 

in new techniques. When 3D digital printing 

came in it took me quite a while to adopt that. 

Laser printing and cutting... certain things 

certainly speed up the process of making 

the model. For sure, as with all technologies, 

it will come in and it will change things. But 

how, I don’t know, because it’s not something 

that I’m even looking into using myself. It’s 

probably out of my reach at the moment and 

not something I will be seeking to do. 

IF YOU WEREN’T A DESIGNER, WHAT 

MIGHT YOU HAVE BECOME? 

It still would have been artistic. I fantasised 

about being an architect when I was 14. So 

I’ve not strayed actually that far away from 

that fantasy. And I think the older me has a 

bit of a fantasy about sitting in a pottery shed, 

throwing pots and working with clay. So that’s 

maybe my desert island dream retirement 

job. I don’t ever see myself retiring, but 

maybe I will at some point. 

IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL DERVAN 

25

CAST IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE 

Marcello Iurii Samoilov Baritone 

a painter 

Rodolfo Merūnas Vitulskis Tenor 

a poet 

Colline Lukas Jakobski Bass 

a philosopher 

Schaunard Gyula Nagy Baritone 

a musician 

Benoît Eddie Wade Bass 

their landlord 

Mimì Celine Byrne Soprano 

a seamstress 

Parpignol Fearghal Curtis Tenor 

an itinerant toy vendor 

Alcindoro Eddie Wade Bass 

a state councillor and Musetta’s admirer 

Musetta Sarah Brady Soprano 

a grisette 

Un doganiere David Scott Bass 

a customs official 

Sergente dei doganieri Kevin Neville Bass 

a customs sergeant 

26

CREATIVE TEAM 

Conductor 

Director 

Set & Costume Designer 

Lighting Designer 

Choreographer 

Chorus Director & Assistant Conductor 

Assistant Director 

Children’s Chorus Director 

Répétiteur 

Language Coach 

Sergio Alapont 

Orpha Phelan 

Nicky Shaw 

Matt Haskins 

Muirne Bloomer 

Elaine Kelly 

Chris Kelly 

Medb Brereton Hurley 

Richard McGrath 

Annalisa Monticelli 

PARTICIPATING INO STUDIO MEMBERS 

Mimì (cover) Deirdre Higgins Soprano 

Musetta (cover) Megan O’Neill Soprano 

Studio Conductor 

Studio Répétiteur 

Assistant Director 

Medb Brereton Hurley 

Adam McDonagh 

Chris Kelly 

27

IRISH NATIONAL OPERA CHORUS 

Sopranos 

Caroline Behan* 

Deirdre Higgins* 

Megan O’Neill* 

Niamh St John* 

Emma Hils 

Tara Lacken 

Hailey-Rose Lynch 

Maria Matthews 

Mezzo-sopranos 

Leanne Fitzgerald* 

Madeline Judge* 

Sarah Kilcoyne* 

Heather Sammon* 

Sinead Carroll 

Áine Cassidy 

Eilís Dexter 

Iris-Fiona Nikolaou 

Tenors 

Ben Escorcio* 

Andrew Masterson* 

Oisín Ó Dálaigh* 

William Pearson* 

David Corr 

Fearghal Curtis 

Cathal McCabe 

Seán Tester 

Basses 

Maksym Lozovyi* 

Matthew Mannion* 

Kevin Neville* 

David Scott* 

Desmond Capliss 

David Kennedy 

Lorcan O’Byrne 

Gerry Noonan 

* denotes members of the core company chorus 

SOLO IN CHILDREN’S CHORUS 

Nora Verdier 

INDEPENDENT THEATRE WORKSHOP CHILDREN’S CHORUS 

Amy Deane 

Annabelle Donlon 

Flora Egan 

Isabella Farrell 

Catherine Field Blain 

Tiffany Gelig 

Joya Hobson 

Priya Hobson 

Emma Hughes 

Adam Kirwan 

Ana Rubia Marques Da Hora 

Ava McCarthy 

Andrew McNally 

Joanna Molloy 

Ethan O’Connor 

Eloise Peregrine 

Ceola Roy 

Seána Tully 

28

IRISH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA 

First Violins 

Sarah Sew LEADER 

David O’Doherty 

Anita Vedres 

Oliver Baily 

Aisling Manning 

Mollie Wrafter 

Victor Perez Vigas 

Brigid Leman 

Jisun Min 

Inana Garis 

Second Violins 

Larissa O’Grady 

Aoife Dowdall 

Cillian Ó Breachain 

Christine Kenny 

Emma Masterson 

Justyna Dabek 

Rachel Du 

Sarah Perricone 

Violas 

Adele Johnson 

Andreea Banciu 

Giammaria Tesei 

Gawain Usher 

Abi Hammett 

Abigail Prián Gallardo 

Cellos 

David Edmonds 

Aoife Burke 

Jonathan Few 

Robert Wheatley 

Paula Hughes 

Caitríona Finnegan 

Grace Coughlan 

Double Basses 

Dominic Dudley 

Maeve Sheil 

Alex Felle 

Paul Stephens 

Harp 

Dianne Marshall 

Flutes 

Lina Andonovska 

Meadhbh O’Rourke 

Susan Doyle 

Oboes 

Aoife McCambridge 

Jenny Magee 

Cor Anglais 

Rebecca Halliday 

Clarinets 

Conor Sheil 

Suzanne Brennan 

Seamus Wylie 

Bassoons 

Sinéad Frost 

Clíona Warren 

Horns 

Patrick Broderick 

Peter Ryan 

Dewi Jones 

Louise Sullivan 

Trumpets 

Colm Byrne 

Erick Castillo Mora 

Glen Carr 

Trombones 

Ross Lyness 

Casey Trowel 

Kieran Sharkey 

Paul Frost 

Timpani 

Noel Eccles 

Percussion 

Richard O’Donnell 

John Rousseau 

Kevin Corcoran 

Emily Gatchell 

STAGE BAND 

Piccolo 

Naoise Ó Briain 

Kim O’Brien 

Trumpets 

Eoghan Cooke 

Jane Hilliard 

Snares 

Rónán Scarlett 

Ciarán Walsh 

29

PRODUCTION TEAM 

Production Manager 

Peter Jordan 

Company Stage Manager 

Paula Tierney 

Stage Manager 

Anne Kyle 

Assistant Stage Managers 

Ilona McCormick 

Stephanie Ryan 

Technical Stage Manager 

Abraham Allen 

Technical Crew 

Peter Boyle 

Conor Courtney 

Sami Finucane 

Thomas Knight 

Joey Maguire 

Pawel Nieworaj 

Martin Wallace 

Damien Woods 

Props Supervisor 

Caoimhe Dunne 

Chief LX 

Donal McNinch 

LX Programmer 

Susan Collins 

LX Crew 

Paul Hyland 

June González Iriarte 

Eoin McNinch 

Follow Spot Operators 

Megan Conlan 

Jasper Cahill 

Set Construction 

TPS 

Props & Furniture Construction 

Ian Thompson 

Scenic Artist 

Sandra Butler 

Assistant Scenic Artist 

Rachel Baum 

Scenic Printers 

Showtex 

Rutters 

Wigs, Hair & Makeup 

Supervisor 

Carole Dunne 

Wigs, hair, Make-up Assistants 

Tee Elliott 

Trudy Hayes 

Sarah Byrne 

Costume Supervisors 

Monica Ennis 

Therese McKeone 

Wardrobe Supervisors 

Laura Fajardo 

Maisey Lorimer 

Costume makers 

Denise Assas 

Denis Darcy 

Gillian Carew 

Caroline Butler 

Costume Assistants 

Veronika Romanova 

Erica Smith 

Breakdown Artist 

Molly Brown 

Dressers 

Kellie Donnelly 

Hanna Pulkkinen 

Thea Dong 

Edie Dawson 

Chaperones 

Gillian Oman 

Surtitle Operator 

Rachel Spratt 

Lighting Provider 

QLX 

PSI 

30

PRODUCTION TEAM 

LIR INTERNS 

Scenic Art 

Arden Tierney 

ADDITIONAL THANKS 

Production Photography 

Ros Kavanagh 

KEEP THE 

MEMORIES! 

LX Team 

Sarah Doyle 

Isaac McGrath Long 

Costume 

Alison Meehan 

IADT INTERNS 

Wigs, Hair & Makeup 

Suzanne Armstrong 

Diana Simanovic 

Lara Rosello Peres 

Rehearsal Photography 

Ste Murray 

Rehearsal Video 

Mark Cantan 

Behind the scenes video 

Charlie Joe Doherty 

Promotional Video 

Gansee 

Graphic Design 

Colin Denham 

Programme edited by 

Michael Dervan 

Transport 

Trevor Price Transport 

Owen Sherwin 

Our recording of the 2021 

concert performance is 

available to purchase 

in the foyer. 

Or online from 

www.prestomusic.com 

/classical/products/9313458--la-boheme 

31 41

BIOGRAPHIES 

SERGIO ALAPONT 

CONDUCTOR 

ORPHA PHELAN 

DIRECTOR 

Spanish conductor Sergio Alapont’s 

recent opera highlights include 

Verdi’s Nabucco at Teatro Real de 

Madrid, Mozart’s Don Giovanni at 

the Teatro Comunale di Sassari, 

Bizet’s Carmen at the Ópera de 

Oviedo, his US debut conducting Puccini’s La rondine 

at Minnesota Opera, a new production of Mozart’s 

Idomeneo at Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, 

Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and Puccini’s Gianni 

Schicchi at OperaLombardia, Lehár’s The Merry 

Widow at Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, Donizetti’s 

Poliuto at Glyndebourne, Verdi’s Attila at the Teatro 

Massimo Bellini in Catania, Rota’s Il cappello di 

paglia di Firenze at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 

and Cagnoni’s Don Bucefalo at Wexford Festival 

Opera. Upcoming engagements include L’Orchestre 

symphonique de Longueuil (recently renamed 

l’Orchestre Philarmonique du Québec), Orchestre 

National des Pays de la Loire, Spanish Radio and 

Television Symphony Orchestra, Bizet’s Carmen in 

Valladolid and Verdi’s Macbeth at the Luglio Musicale 

Trapanese. In 2016 he won the best conductor 

award at GBOSCAR – L’Eccellenza dell’Opera. He 

conducted a livestream and recording of Puccini’s La 

bohème for INO in 2021, and now conducts the same 

work for his first production with INO. 

Based in London, Orpha Phelan hails 

from Co. Kilkenny. She has been 

nominated for best director in The 

Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, and 

her 2022 productions of Donizetti’s 

Don Pasquale (INO) and Félicien 

David’s Lalla-Roukh (Wexford Festival Opera) were 

both nominated for best opera at the same award 

ceremony. She also directed Rossini’s La Cenerentola 

for INO (nominated for The Irish Times Irish Theatre 

Award for best production in 2019), Bernstein’s A 

Quiet Place for Opera Zuid, Netherlands (Place de 

l’Opéra award for best opera production 2018), 

Thomas Adès’s Powder Her Face and Jake Heggie’s 

Dead Man Walking (Reumert Awards in Denmark for 

best opera production 2016, 2017), Britten’s Billy 

Budd and Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Opera 

North/Opera Australia, Janáček’s Jenůfa, Offenbach’s 

Tales of Hoffmann, Fiddler on the Roof and Puccini’s 

La bohème for Malmö Opera, Beethoven’s Fidelio for 

Longborough Festival Opera, Bernard Herrmann’s 

Wuthering Heights for Opéra national de Lorraine, 

Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites for RNCM, Michael 

Zev Gordon’s Raising Icarus for Barber Opera and 

Mozart’s Così fan tutte for Opera Theatre Company. 

32

NICKY SHAW 

SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER 

MATT HASKINS 

LIGHTING DESIGNER 

Nicky is an international set and 

costume designer with Anglo-Irish 

nationality. She has designed 

productions for many leading 

companies in the UK, extensively 

in Europe and also South Korea. 

Notable work includes Rossini’s La Cenerentola 

(Irish National Opera, nominated best production 

and best set design, The Irish Times Irish Theatre 

Awards); Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (Royal 

Danish Opera, winner best opera, Reumart Awards); 

Janáček’s Jenůfa (Royal Swedish Opera, Danish 

National Opera, Scottish Opera, winner The Renee 

Stepham Award for best presentation of touring 

theatre, UK Theatre Awards); Massenet’s Don 

Quichotte (Den Jyske Opera, winner audience award 

and best production award, Stiftidende); Verdi’s 

La traviata (Scottish Opera, joint winner The Renee 

Stepham Award for best presentation of touring 

theatre); and Thomas’s Mignon (Buxton Opera 

Festival, nominated for best opera, South Bank Sky 

Awards). Her recent work includes TV production 

design, AbracadOpera! (Sky Arts/ENO) and 

production design for ENO Breathe. Her most recent 

INO production, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, directed 

by Orpha Phelan, got a nomination for best opera 

production at The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards. 

Nicky mentors young designers and is a trustee 

director of the Society of British Theatre Designers. 

Matt is London-based and works 

internationally. He designed the 

lighting for the Royal Opera House’s 

world premiere of Mark-Anthony 

Turnage’s Coraline, worked as 

associate lighting designer for 

The Master and Margarita (Complicité) and concert 

lighting designer for the iconic Grace Jones (Royal 

Albert Hall). Opera work includes Rossini’s La 

Cenerentola and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (Irish 

National Opera); Verdi’s La traviata (Israeli Opera) 

and Macbeth (Grange Festival); Michael Zev Gordon’s 

Raising Icarus (Barber Opera); Verdi’s La traviata 

and Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Opera North); Søren 

Nils Eichberg’s Glare and Matt Rogers’s The Virtues 

of Things (Royal Opera House); Bernstein’s A Quiet 

Place (Opera Zuid); Herrmann’s Wuthering Heights 

(Opéra national de Lorraine) and Ravi Shankar’s 

Sukanya (Royal Festival Hall). His theatre work 

includes Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Broadway/West 

End/Canada/Australasia tours); Frankenstein (UK 

Tour); Miss Saigon (Folketeateret, Oslo); The Empress 

(Royal Shakespeare Company); School Girls; Or, The 

African Mean Girls Play (Lyric Hammersmith); The 

City and The Town (HullTruck/Riksteatern, Sweden); 

Biscuits for Breakfast, The Art of Illusion, Mary, 

Ravenscourt, Lotus Beauty, The Fever Syndrome, Folk, 

Malindadzimu, I & You (Hampstead Theatre); The 

Clinic (Almeida); Hakawatis (Shakesperare’s Globe); 

Private Peaceful (Nottingham Playhouse/UK tour); 

Fair Play (Bush); The Lovely Bones (Birmingham Rep/ 

UK tour); Nina (Young Vic/Unity Theatre); Truth and 

Reconciliation (Royal Court) and Hobson’s Choice 

(Royal Exchange). 

33

BIOGRAPHIES 

MUIRNE BLOOMER 

CHOREOGRAPHER 

Muirne Bloomer is a freelance 

dance professional with over 

30 years’ experience in dance, 

theatre, children’s dance theatre, 

spectacle, and community arts. She 

has worked with Dublin City Ballet, 

Vienna Ballet Theatre, Rubato Ballet, Dance Theatre 

of Ireland, Holland Show Ballet, Irish Modern Dance 

Theatre and CoisCéim Dance Theatre. She teaches 

contemporary and ballet at professional, second and 

third level at the Lir Academy and Bow Street Screen 

Actors Academy. Choreography for Irish National 

Opera productions includes Rossini’s La Cenerentola, 

Brian Irvine and Netia Jones’s Least Like The Other, 

Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and, most recently, 

Bizet’s Carmen. Other choreographic work includes 

Rossini’s The Marriage of Figaro (Wide Open Opera), 

Hamlet (St Anne’s Warehouse NYC), Look Back in 

Anger, The Great Gatsby, Private Lives, Little Women, 

Arcadia and Dancing at Lughnasa (Gate Theatre); 

Donegal, You Never Can Tell, She Stoops to Conquer, 

A Doll’s House, Cavalcaders, Drama at Inis and The 

Tempest (Abbey Theatre). Muirne is currently artistic 

coordinator of Creative Places Darndale. 

ELAINE KELLY 

CHORUS DIRECTOR 

& ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR 

Elaine Kelly is the resident 

conductor and chorus director of 

Irish National Opera. In 2023 she 

conducted the world premieres 

of Emma O’Halloran’s double bill, 

Mary Motorhead and TRADE at 

the PROTOTYPE Festival New York and LA Opera, 

and Evangelia Rigaki’s Old Ghosts in Dublin. She 

also conducted the premiere of David Coonan’s 

youth opera, Horse Ape Bird in 2022. In 2020 she 

conducted nine new works by Irish composers in 

INO’s internationally praised 20 Shots of Opera as 

well as the film of Amanda Feery’s A Thing I Cannot 

Name, which was streamed as part of the West Cork 

Literary Festival in July 2021. After her appointment 

as INO’s resident conductor she conducted a tour 

of Peter Maxwell Davies’s The Lighthouse and, most 

recently, Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Gounod’s Faust 

at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre. She has also worked 

for INO on productions of Rossini’s La Cenerentola, 

Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, Puccini’s 

La bohème, Strauss’s Elektra, Gerald Barry’s Alice’s 

Adventures Under Ground, Beethoven’s Fidelio, 

Bizet’s Carmen, Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, Rossini’s 

William Tell, Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, and for 

Opéra National de Bordeaux on Donizetti’s L’elisir 

d’amore. In March 2022 she led the National 

Symphony Orchestra’s International Women’s Day 

Concert, and has also conducted the RTÉ Concert 

Orchestra, Cork Concert Orchestra, and Cork Opera 

House Concert Orchestra. She was music director 

with the Dublin Symphony Orchestra (2017–19) and 

the University of Limerick Orchestra (2019–21). 

34

CHRIS KELLY 

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR 

MEDB BRERETON HURLEY 

CHILDREN’S CHORUS DIRECTOR 

Chris is a director based in Dublin, 

working in opera and theatre. 

He holds a BMus from DIT and 

an MA in theatre practice from 

the Gaiety School of Acting 

and UCD. Previous directing 

credits include Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Viardot’s 

Cendrillon (Irish premiere), Humperdinck’s Hänsel 

und Gretel, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Purcell’s 

Dido and Aeneas, all with North Dublin Opera. For 

Opera Collective Ireland, he was assistant director 

for Britten’s Owen Wingrave, Raymond Deane’s 

Vagabones, and Handel’s Semele. Theatre credits 

include Suicide Tuesday (Hugh Hick) with Little 

Shadow Theatre Company, I Am (GSA), Unicorns 

Are Real (Jellybelly), and his own adaptation of Alice 

in Wonderland (Skerries Soundwaves Festival). In 

2021, he wrote and co-directed Twenty Minutes 

From Nowhere with Crave Productions and Bewley’s 

Cafe Theatre, which was also performed in Listowel 

Writer’s Week. 

Medb Brereton Hurley is from 

Bettystown, Co. Meath. She 

worked as assistant conductor of 

Julianstown Youth Orchestra and 

in 2019 conducted the orchestra 

in Verdi’s Nabucco Overture at the 

Lisbon International Festival of Youth Orchestras. 

She was the conductor/co-musical director of a 

production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the 

Samuel Beckett Theatre, TCD, in February 2022. She 

has been the conductor of Trinity Orchestra since 

September 2020 and made her official concert debut 

with the orchestra in April 2022. She graduated from 

TCD with a first class honours degree last year and 

also started working as conductor of the newly formed 

Darndale Community Choir. She has also composed 

music and sound designed for theatre, including 

many plays for DU Players and multimedia online 

installations, including GULL (2020), Cagebirds, 

Echo and Everest (both 2021). She has designed 

and created two multimedia projects of her own: 

POP-TART (2020), as part of DU Players’ Resilience 

Festival, and Aurora (2021), as part of their Reverie 

Festival. POP-TART was nominated for six different 

awards at the 2020 ISDAs, including Best Original 

Writing and Best Sound, and won for Best Hair and 

Makeup. Medb has studied French horn at the Royal 

Irish Academy of Music since 2015 and won the Walton 

Cup at Feis Ceoil 2021. She has been a member of the 

quintet Vox Amicum Brass since 2019. 

35

BIOGRAPHIES 

RICHARD MCGRATH 

RÉPÉTITEUR 

ANNALISA MONTICELLI 

LANGUAGE COACH 

Richard studied at NUI, Maynooth, 

the Royal Irish Academy of Music 

and the Guildhall School of Music 

and Drama, London. He was 

a trainee répétiteur at English 

National Opera and since then 

he has worked with companies including Irish 

National Opera, Northern Ireland Opera, Wide 

Open Opera, Opera Theatre Company and Lyric 

Opera Productions. Previous productions with these 

companies include Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, 

Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s 

Castle, Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Gerald Barry’s 

Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (INO), Donnacha 

Dennehy and Enda Walsh’s The First Child and 

The Second Violinist (Landmark Productions/INO), 

Beethoven’s Fidelio, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and 

Bizet’s Carmen (Lyric Opera Productions), Rossini’s 

The Barber of Seville (Lyric Opera Productions, Wide 

Open Opera and ENO), Verdi’s La traviata (ENO 

and Lyric Opera Productions), Puccini’s La bohème 

(Opera Theatre Company, English National Opera 

and Lyric Opera Ireland), Donnacha Dennehy and 

Enda Walsh’s The Last Hotel (Landmark Productions/ 

Wide Open Opera), Verdi’s Rigoletto (Opera Theatre 

Company), Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore (Opera Theatre 

Company and NI Opera) and John Adams’s Nixon in 

China (Wide Open Opera). Richard is a répétiteur in 

the vocal department at the TU Dublin Conservatoire 

and a coach for the Irish National Opera Studio. 

Annalisa Monticelli is a highly 

sought-after musician who has 

performed and recorded in Europe, 

Asia, North and South America as a 

soloist, with vocal and instrumental 

ensembles, and with various 

orchestras. She studied piano, voice, conducting, 

chamber music, jazz and education in Italy and 

the USA with renowned musicians including Bruno 

Canino, Daniel Rivera, Eugenia Rozental, Cinzia Gizzi 

and Douglas Weeks. She gave her first solo recital 

at the age of 10 and gained her first piano degree at 

the age of 16 with maximum marks. She started her 

professional coaching career working for the Montalto 

Opera program in Montalto Ligure in Italy under the 

guidance of tenor Ugo Benelli and accompanying 

masterclasses by Wagnerian soprano Rebecca Turner 

and others. After spending three years in the USA, 

she moved to Ireland in 2014. She has worked at the 

Royal Irish Academy of Music, and Dundalk Institute 

of Technology, performed in all Irish major venues, 

and released several albums. She has also performed 

and taught in Warsaw, Zurich, Vilnius, Glasgow, Paris, 

Johor Bahru (Malaysia), Porto and Scotland. She is 

working on her PhD at TU Dublin and her research 

focuses on Michele Esposito and his piano school 

based in Dublin in the late nineteenth century. She 

has worked as répétiteur, vocal and/or diction coach 

for more than 30 operas, both in Europe and the USA. 

She is an eclectic musician who loves performing 

classical music alongside tango, jazz and Latin- 

American music, both as a pianist and a singer. 

36

CELINE BYRNE 

SOPRANO 

MIMÌ 

Celine Byrne, who won First Prize 

and gold medal at the Maria Callas 

International Grand Prix in Athens 

in 2007, is an INO Artistic Partner 

and made her company debut in 

the title role of Puccini’s Madama 

Butterfly in 2019. Other INO appearances include the 

Marschallin in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, 

and Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen. Recent performances 

include Madama Butterfly (Bregenz Festival), Magda 

in Puccini’s La rondine (Minnesota Opera), Madama 

Butterfly (Staatstheater Kassel), Marschallin in 

Der Rosenkavalier (Santiago), Marietta/Marie in 

Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (RTÉ NSO), Donna Elvira 

in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Israeli Opera), title role in 

Puccini’s Tosca (Mikhailovsky Opera, St Petersburg), 

Liù in Puccini’s Turandot (Oper Leipzig and Deutsche 

Oper am Rhein), Elisabeth in Verdi’s Don Carlo 

(Deutsche Oper am Rhein) and Mimì in La bohéme 

(Hamburg State Opera). She made her operatic debut 

in 2010 as Mimì with Scottish Opera in a production 

that also came to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in 

Dublin. She made her debut at the Royal Opera 

House, Covent Garden, in Dvořák’s Rusalka in 2012, 

taking over the role at short notice. She returned 

to sing First Flower Maiden in Wagner’s Parsifal 

followed by Micaëla in Carmen. Future engagements 

include a tour of the US with Barry Douglas to include 

Carnegie Hall in New York, Mimì in Lucerne and at 

Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Madama Butterfly at 

Zurich Opera House. Her INO recording of La bohème 

is available from Signum Records. Future concert 

performances include Celine Byrne & Guests in INEC, 

Killarney, on 7 January 2024. 

SARAH BRADY 

SOPRANO 

MUSETTA 

Irish soprano Sarah Brady is a rising 

star on the operatic and concert 

stages. A graduate of the Royal Irish 

Academy of Music, she joined the 

prestigious young artist programme 

OperAvenir at Theater Basel in 

2017. In the 2019–20 season, she became a member 

of the ensemble at Theater Basel and was nominated 

as upcoming artist of the year by Opernwelt for her 

achievements during this year. From 2020 to 2023 

she was a member of the ensemble of Staatsoper 

Hannover. In the 2023–24 season she returns to 

Theater Basel for two role debuts – Ortlinde in 

Benedikt von Peter’s new production of Wagner’s Die 

Walküre, conducted by Jonathan Nott, and Micaëla 

in Constanza Macras’s new production of Bizet’s 

Carmen, conducted by Maxime Pascal. She also 

returns to Staatsoper Hannover to reprise Fiordiligi 

in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. On the concert platform 

she appears again with the Netherlands Radio 

Philharmonic for performances of Frank Martin’s 

Golgotha and Bruckner’s Mass in F Minor. Her debut 

album Matters of the Heart, a CD of songs by Robert 

Schumann and Richard Strauss, was recorded at SRF 

Studios in Zürich and issued by Prospero Classical. 

She made her INO debut as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così 

fan tutte in May 2023. 

37

BIOGRAPHIES 

MERŪNAS VITULSKIS 

TENOR 

RODOLFO 

The tenor Merūnas Vitulskis was 

born in Kaunas, Lithuania. His 

current and future projects include 

Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama 

Butterfly and Alfredo in Verdi’s 

La traviata at Lithuanian National 

Opera as well as Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene 

Onegin and his role debut as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s 

Tosca. In recent seasons he performed Pinkerton 

at Staatstheater Kassel, Opera North, Opéra de 

Lille, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, Stadttheater 

Klagenfurt and Ópera de Oviedo, and Alfredo at Teatro 

di San Carlo, Naples. Past performances include 

Alfredo at ABAO Bilbao Opera under the baton of 

Keri-Lynn Wilson, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème 

at Opera in St Margarethen Quarry (new production 

by Robert Dornhelm), Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth at 

Klagenfurt, Alfredo at Teatro Verdi Trieste, Rodolfo 

at Oper Graz and Aalto-Musiktheater, Essen. He 

developed his musical skills at Gruodis Conservatory 

(2004–6), continuing his studies and graduating 

at the Music Academy with the vocal teacher Ohn 

Antanavičius. In 2006 he studied further with Vytautas 

Juozapaitis, and in 2009 he joined the singing class 

of the famous tenor Virgilijus Noreika. Festivals he 

has performed at include the National Progress 

Prize ceremony with the Lithuanian State Symphony 

Orchestra, Pažaislis Music Festivals XII and XIV, 

Druskininkai Theatre Festival, International Tytuvėnai 

Summer Festival (with St Christopher Chamber 

Orchestra), 75th anniversary of the Lithuanian 

National Opera, Operetta Festival in Kaunas Castle. 

He sang Rodolfo in INO’s lockdown recording of La 

bohème for Signum Records, and makes his company 

stage debut in this production. 

IURII SAMOILOV 

BARITONE 

MARCELLO 

Iurii Samoilov from Ukraine is one 

the most exciting and versatile 

baritones of his generation. He 

began his career in 2010 as 

Plutone in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo 

directed by Pierre Audi at the 

Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. Since then, his career 

has taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra 

national de Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, La Monnaie 

in Brussels, Rossini Opera Festival, Concertgebouw in 

Amsterdam, Salzburg Festival, Semperoper Dresden, 

Alte Oper Frankfurt and Norwegian National Opera, 

working with conductors such as Antonio Pappano, 

Alain Altinoglu, Franz Welser-Möst, Riccardo Frizza, 

Tadaaki Otaka, Ivor Bolton and Pablo Heras-Casado. 

Highlights for the current season include his role 

debut as Sonora in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West with 

the Cleveland Orchestra, Schaunard in La bohème 

at the Metropolitan Opera and his company debuts 

in Barcelona, Helsinki and Athens; he will also sing 

in the New Year’s Eve Concert of the Staatskapelle 

Dresden. Recent engagements included his US 

debuts at the Metropolitan Opera and Michigan Opera 

Theater, his BBC Proms debut, Belcore in Donizetti’s 

L’elisir d’amore in Macerata, the title role in Britten’s 

Billy Budd at the Bolshoi Theatre, Slook in Rossini’s 

La cambiale di matrimonio and Figaro in Rossini’s 

Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Rossini Opera Festival, 

Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Salzburg 

Festival and Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, 

the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Conte 

di Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the 

Semperoper. He makes his INO debut in La bohème. 

38

GYULA NAGY 

BARITONE 

SCHAUNARD 

Gyula Nagy is a Hungarian baritone 

based in Wicklow. His Irish 

performances include his INO stage 

debut as Leuchthold and also in the 

title role of Rossini’s William Tell, 

Valentin in Gounod’s Faust, Karen 

Power’s Touch for INO’s critically acclaimed 20 Shots 

of Opera, Pizarro in Beethoven’s Fidelio for Lyric 

Opera Productions, and the title role in Monteverdi’s 

The Return of Ulysses for Opera Collective Ireland. 

Recent international appearances include Schaunard 

in Puccini’s La bohème and Sharpless in Puccini’s 

Madama Butterfly for The Royal Opera, London, and 

the Gipsy in Mussorgsky’s The Fair at Sorochyntsi 

for Komische Oper Berlin. He trained at London’s 

National Opera Studio and joined the Jette Parker 

Young Artists Programme at Covent Garden. His 

Royal Opera roles include Escamillo in Peter Brook’s 

La tragédie de Carmen, Moralès in Bizet’s Carmen, 

Fiorello in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Filotete 

in Handel’s Oreste, Konrad Nachtigal in Wagner’s 

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Baron Douphol in 

Verdi’s La traviata, as well as Paul in Philip Glass’s Les 

enfants terribles for the Royal Ballet. He appeared as 

Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen for Opera North, made 

his role debut in the title role of Verdi’s Rigoletto 

at the Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid, 

and sang Lescaut in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut for 

Dorset Opera. Future engagements include Urok in 

Paderewski’s Manru for Opéra national de Lorraine, 

Alfio in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Tonio 

in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with the Cambridge 

Philharmonic Orchestra, and Leuthold in Rossini’s 

Guillaume Tell for Nouvel Opéra Fribourg. 

LUKAS JAKOBSKI 

BASS 

COLLINE 

Born in Poland, Lukas Jakobski 

studied at the Royal College of 

Music, and was a member of 

the Jette Parker Young Artist 

Programme at the Royal Opera 

House, Covent Garden. His 

engagements have included Apprentice in Berg’s 

Wozzeck, Peter Quince in Britten’s A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream and Hobson in Britten’s Peter Grimes 

at the Theater an der Wien; Abbot in Britten’s Curlew 

River, Voice of Neptune in Mozart’s Idomeneo and 

Pietro in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the Opéra de 

Lyon; Hobson in Peter Grimes at the Palau de les 

Arts Reina Sofía, Valencia; Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen 

and Colline in Puccini’s La bohème for Glyndebourne 

On Tour, Nettuno/Antinoo/Tempo in Monteverdi’s 

Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at Drottningholm, The 

Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni for the 

Nederlandse Reisopera; Don Cassandro in Mozart’s 

La finta semplice for Classical Opera; Truffaldino 

in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos for the Warsaw 

Philharmonic. For Dutch National Opera, he has 

sung the Captain in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Tall 

Englishman in Shostakovich’s The Gambler, the 

Cook in Prokofiev The Love for Three Oranges and 

the Doctor in Verdi’s Macbeth. Recent engagements 

have included Melchtal and Walter Furst in Rossini’s 

Guillaume Tell for Irish National Opera, Pistola in 

Verdi’s Falstaff for Grange Park Opera, Enrico in 

Donizetti’s Anna Bolena and the Commendatore 

in Mozart’s Don Giovanni for Longborough Festival 

Opera, Dziemba in Moniuszko’s Halka at the Theater 

an der Wien, Penderecki’s St Luke Passion and 

Hobson in Peter Grimes for Polish National Opera 

and Opéra de Lyon. 

39

BIOGRAPHIES 

EDDIE WADE 

BARITONE 

BENOÎT/ALCINDORO 

British baritone Eddie Wade was 

awarded first place and the Verdi/ 

Wagner Prize at the National Mozart 

Competition in 1996. He made his 

Royal Opera House debut as the 

Mandarin in Puccini’s Turandot in 

the same season, and has since performed many 

varied roles with leading companies internationally. 

Highlights include leading roles with the Royal Opera 

House, Den Jyske Opera, Denmark, Nederlandse 

Reisopera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and 

Glyndebourne on Tour, English National Opera, Welsh 

National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, English 

Touring Opera, Opera Holland Park, the International 

Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, The Philharmonia, City 

of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert 

Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the 

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of 

leading international conductors including Mark Elder, 

Antonio Pappano, Charles Mackerras, Esa-Pekka 

Salonen, Maurizio Benini, Carlo Rizzi, Philippe Auguin, 

Andris Nelsons, Jakub Hrůša and Mark Wigglesworth. 

He sang Benoît and Alcindoro in INO’s lockdown 

recording of La bohème for Signum Records, and 

makes his company stage debut in this production. 

FEARGHAL CURTIS 

TENOR 

PARPIGNOL 

Fearghal is an opera singer, podcast 

producer and celebrant from Dublin. 

He is a graduate of DIT Conservatory 

of Music and Drama, and the Royal 

Academy of Music, London. He was 

an associate young artist with Opera 

Theatre Company and was a bursary recipient at the 

the 2014 International Opera Awards. Most recently, 

he was in the ensemble for Irish National Opera’s 

production of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, and was 

also in the ensemble for Michael Gallen’s Elsewhere 

with Straymaker, which premiered at the Abbey 

Theatre and was nominated for an Irish Times Irish 

Theatre Award for best opera. He was tenor in Tom 

Lane and John Scott’s The Wanderer for Irish Modern 

Dance Theatre Company at Cork Opera House. In 

2022 he launched The Curtis Cabaret at The Sugar 

Club, Dublin, to great success. He was named one of 

the Top 50 People to Watch for 2023 by Irish journalist 

Andrea Cleary in The Irish Times. 

40

DAVID SCOTT 

BASS 

DOGANIERE 

David Scott completed his degree 

and masters in the TU Dublin 

Conservatoire, where he sang 

the roles of Jupiter in Offenbach’s 

Orpheus in the Underworld, Second 

Priest in Mozart’s The Magic Flute 

and Joseph Beuys in Andrew Synott’s Breakdown. 

Other roles include Don Inigo Gomez in Ravel’s 

L’heure espagnole (Opera in the Open) and Aeneas 

in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and he created the role 

of Leopold Bloom in Eric Sweeney’s Ulysses. He is a 

core member of the Irish National Opera Chorus and 

sang the role of Lerchanau’s Second Servant in INO’s 

production of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. He also 

covered the roles Chou En Lai in John Adams’s Nixon 

in China and Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia for 

Wide Open Opera. In oratorio, he has sung bass solos 

in Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt, and Britten’s 

Rejoice in the Lamb (Dublin Bach Singers), and the 

baritone solos in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Fauré’s 

Requiem and Durufle’s Requiem (Jubilate Choir). 

KEVIN NEVILLE 

BASS 

SERGENTE 

Kevin Neville is a bass from 

Limerick city. While on the Northern 

Ireland Opera Studio, he played 

Don Alfonso in a reduced version 

of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. At the 

Blackwater Valley Opera Festival 

and Mananan International Festival of Music he 

played the Regent in Balfe’s The Sleeping Queen. 

He made his debut with Irish National Opera in 

Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. Since then he has 

gone on to play L’ufficiale del Registro in Puccini’s 

Madama Butterfly as well as Lerchenau’s servant and 

Boots in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. He created the 

roles of George de La Hare in Fiona Linnane’s No. 2 

Pery Square and Old George in Robert Ely’s 1936: 

Fishing. He has performed as a concert soloist at the 

National Concert Hall, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, 

Ulster Hall, Belfast, and the University Concert 

Hall, Limerick in repertoire that included Handel’s 

Messiah, and as well as Mendelssohn’s Elijah and 

Die erste Walpurgisnacht. 

41

INO ORCHESTRA & CHORUS 

IRISH NATIONAL OPERA CHORUS 

IRISH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA 

The Irish National Opera Orchestra, which performs in 

all of INO’s larger productions, is made up of leading 

Irish freelance musicians. Members of the orchestra 

have a broad range of experience playing operatic, 

symphonic, chamber and new music repertoire. The 

orchestra’s work includes Strauss’s Elektra in 2021 

and Der Rosenkavalier in 2023 (“delivers all the 

swelling romanticism and range of tone and colour 

you could ask for,” Irish Examiner). It is equally at 

home in music by Donizetti and Rossini (“wonderful 

energy and musical vision,” Bachtrack in 2022 on 

Rossini’s William Tell). The orchestra also performs 

chamber reductions for touring productions including, 

most recently, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (2022) 

and Massenet’s Werther (2023). The orchestra’s 

contemporary repertoire has included Thomas 

Adès’s Powder Her Face (2018), Maxwell Davies’s 

The Lighthouse (2021), and Brian Irvine and Netia 

Jones’s Least Like The Other, Searching for Rosemary 

Kennedy, in which it made its international debut 

at the Royal Opera House in London in 2023. The 

orchestra can be heard on the INO recording of 

Puccini’s La bohème on Signum Classics. 

The Irish National Opera Chorus is a flexible ensemble 

of professional singers that has ranged in number 

from four, in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, to 60, in 

Verdi’s Aida. The chorus is a valuable training ground 

for many emerging singers and has been heard in 

venues large and small throughout Ireland as well 

as internationally. The membership is mostly drawn 

from singers based in Ireland. There is currently a 

core of 16 singers who perform in all of the company’s 

large-scale productions. In 2022 the chorus 

appeared in Rossini’s William Tell, one of the most 

chorally demanding operas, and in 2023 many of 

the members also featured in solo roles in Strauss’s 

Der Rosenkavalier; members were also heard in solo 

roles in a touring production of Offenbach’s The Tales 

of Hoffmann. The chorus has collaborated with TU 

Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama and the 

Royal Irish Academy of Music, with senior students 

offered positions in the chorus, usually in tandem 

with specially devised professional development 

programmes for emerging singers. 

42

FOUNDERS CIRCLE 

Anonymous 

Desmond Barry & John Redmill 

Valerie Beatty & Dennis Jennings 

Mark & Nicola Beddy 

Carina & Ali Ben Lmadani 

Mary Brennan 

Angie Brown 

Breffni & Jean Byrne 

Jennifer Caldwell 

Seán Caldwell & Richard Caldwell 

Caroline Classon, in memoriam 

David Warren, Gorey 

Audrey Conlon 

Gerardine Connolly 

Jackie Connolly 

Gabrielle Croke 

Sarah Daniel 

Maureen de Forge 

Doreen Delahunty & Michael Moriarty 

Joseph Denny 

Kate Donaghy 

Marcus Dowling 

Mareta & Conor Doyle 

Noel Doyle & Brigid McManus 

Michael Duggan 

Catherine & William Earley 

Jim & Moira Flavin 

Ian & Jean Flitcroft 

Anne Fogarty 

Maire & Maurice Foley 

Roy & Aisling Foster 

Howard Gatiss 

Genesis 

Hugh & Mary Geoghegan 

Diarmuid Hegarty 

M Hely Hutchinson 

Gemma Hussey 

Kathy Hutton & David McGrath 

Nuala Johnson 

Susan Kiely 

Timothy King & Mary Canning 

J & N Kingston 

Kate & Ross Kingston 

Silvia & Jay Krehbiel 

Karlin Lillington & Chris Horn 

Stella Litchfield 

Jane Loughman 

Rev Bernárd Lynch & Billy Desmond 

Lyndon MacCann S.C. 

Phyllis Mac Namara 

Tony & Joan Manning 

R. John McBratney 

Ruth McCarthy, in memoriam Niall 

& Barbara McCarthy 

Petria McDonnell 

Jim McKiernan 

Tyree & Jim McLeod 

Jean Moorhead 

Sara Moorhead 

Joe & Mary Murphy 

Ann Nolan & Paul Burns 

F.X. & Pat O’Brien 

James & Sylvia O’Connor 

John & Viola O’Connor 

Joseph O’Dea 

Dr J R O’Donnell 

Deirdre O’Donovan & Daniel Collins 

Diarmuid O’Dwyer 

Patricia O’Hara 

Annmaree O’Keefe & Chris Greene 

Carmel & Denis O’Sullivan 

Líosa O’Sullivan & Mandy Fogarty 

Hilary Pratt 

Sue Price 

Landmark Productions 

Riverdream Productions 

Nik Quaife & Emerson Bruns 

Margaret Quigley 

Patricia Reilly 

Dr Frances Ruane 

Catherine Santoro 

Dermot & Sue Scott 

Yvonne Shields 

Fergus Sheil Sr 

Gaby Smyth 

Matthew Patrick Smyth 

Bruce Stanley 

Sara Stewart 

The Wagner Society of Ireland 

Julian & Beryl Stracey 

Michael Wall & Simon Nugent 

Brian Walsh & Barry Doocey 

Judy Woodworth 

43

EVANGELIA RIGAKI, MARINA CARR 

OLD GHOSTS 

AVAILABLE UNTIL 

16.12.2023 AT 12H00 CET 

SUNG IN ENGLISH | SUBTITLES IN ENGLISH 

Operavision is supported by 

the European Union’s Creative Europe programme. 

operavision.eu/performance/old-ghosts

INO FUTURE LEADERS 

NETWORK 

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA IS A GREAT 

WAY TO MEET PEOPLE AND EXPAND 

YOUR NETWORK. 

This new initiative is tailored to young 

professionals across a variety of industries 

looking for an enjoyable way to expand 

their professional network. 

INO is a vibrant, dynamic company and our operas attract 

a broad and varied audience. Developing a robust network 

is crucial to a successful career and we have created a 

unique opportunity for professionals to meet and connect 

before an opera performance. With this network, we 

want to create a space for you to connect with individuals 

across a range of sectors, who have the potential to be your 

future colleagues, clients, customers or collaborators. We 

aim for this network to empower you to forge meaningful 

connections that can open doors to new opportunities, 

enhance your skill set, and broaden your perspective 

– all while enjoying a world-class opera performance! 

Photo: Aisling O’Connor 

This initiative is proudly supported by a partnership 

with Spencer Lennox. 

To sign up to this network, or if your company is interested 

in hosting an event for the INO Future Leaders’ Network, 

please contact us on 

development@irishnationalopera.ie or +353 1 6794962 

45

ACCESS AND INNOVATION 

WELCOMING NEW AUDIENCES WITH TECHNOLOGY 

At Irish National Opera, we’re reimagining the boundaries of opera in the digital 

age. Our innovative ‘Isolde’ project is one such example, offering a groundbreaking 

platform for the synchronisation of visuals and audio on people’s own devices, giving 

audiences the opportunity to use their own mobile phones with a projected or screened 

performance in public or site-specific locations. 

With its user-friendly interface across mobile, desktop, and cloud applications, Isolde replaces 

amplified audio equipment. We’re excited about the implications that Isolde will have for the 

wider cultural sector and as we continue to develop this software, we aim to explore applications 

for museums and galleries through auto synced audio guides and audio descriptions for the 

visually impaired in theatre settings. 

Combining this cutting-edge technology and an interdisciplinary approach creates a space 

for opera at the intersection of digital innovation and the performing arts. This fresh and 

forward-thinking approach brings vibrancy to a timeless art form, allowing new audiences to be 

captivated by everything that opera has to bring. 

Other recent innovations include our award-winning, virtual reality community opera, Out of the 

Ordinary/As an nGnách, which was created by communities in different parts of the country, 

from Inis Meáin to Tallaght. It was created in collaboration with composer Finola Merivale, 

librettist Jody O’Neill and director Jo Mangan. 

Our 20 Shots of Opera, a set of 20 bite-sized operas were commissioned, filmed and streamed 

online within a matter of months, to deliver new opera experiences during the dark days of the 

lockdown in 2020. 

In 2021 we created a site-specific production of Strauss’s Elektra for Kilkenny Arts Festival in 

the spectacular setting of the city’s Castle Yard. Our acclaimed film productions have included 

Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (in partnership with London’s Royal Opera 

House), Peter Maxwell’s Davies’s The Lighthouse, and Amanda Feery’s A Thing I Cannot Name. 

At Irish National Opera, we believe opera is for everyone. By infusing our work with a pioneering 

spirit and cutting-edge technology, we invite an ever-growing audience to experience the 

dynamism of opera. 

46

Images: Clockwise from top, 

Photos 1 & 2, Screening of 

Brian Irvine’s Scorched Earth 

Trilogy at Trinity College Dublin, 

photos: Dumbworld; Screening 

of Peter Maxwell Davies’s The 

Lighthouse at Hook Head, 

photo: Pádraig Grant; Audience 

member at Finola Merivale’s 

virtual reality opera, Out of 

the Ordinary/As an nGnách, at 

Dublin Fridge Festival, photo: 

Simon Lazewski. 

47

IRISH NATIONAL 

OPERA STUDIO 

STUDIO MEMBERS 2023–24 

DEIRDRE HIGGINS SOPRANO 

MEGAN O’NEILL SOPRANO 

MADELINE JUDGE MEZZO-SOPRANO 

WILLIAM PEARSON TENOR 

ALEX DOWLING COMPOSER 

MEDB BRERETON-HURLEY CONDUCTOR 

CHRIS KELLY DIRECTOR 

ADAM McDONAGH RÉPÉTITEUR 

The Irish National Opera Studio is key to delivering a core 

aspect of INO’s mission, the development of the very best 

operatic talent we can find in Ireland. The studio is the 

company’s artistic development programme. The membership 

is selected annually, and the studio provides specially tailored 

training, professional mentoring and high-level professional 

engagements for a group of individuals whose success will be 

key to the future development of opera in Ireland. 

Members of Irish National Opera Studio are involved in all 

of Irish National Opera’s productions, large and small. They 

sing onstage in roles or in the chorus, understudy lead roles 

– enabling them to watch and emulate great artists at work – 

and, for non-singing members, they join in the world of opera 

rehearsals as assistants. 

Studio members also receive individual coaching, attend 

masterclasses and receive mentorship from leading Irish and 

international singers and musicians. Brenda Hurley, Head of 

Opera at the Royal Academy of Music, London, is the vocal 

consultant who guides our singers throughout the year. 

Other areas of specific attention are performance and 

language skills, and members are assisted in their individual 

personal musical development and given professional career 

guidance. They benefit from Irish National Opera’s national 

and international contacts and Irish National Opera Studio 

also develops and promotes specially tailored events to help 

the members hone specific skills and showcase their work. 

For information contact Studio & Outreach Producer 

James Bingham at james@irishnationalopera.ie 

48

Soprano Jade Phoenix, a member of the Irish National Opera Studio 2022–23, 

has followed her success as Nora Barnacle in Evangelia Rigaki and Marina 

Carr’s Old Ghosts for INO, with a much-praised appearance as Rosetta in Marco 

Tutino’s La ciocara at Wexford Festival Opera. “Jade Phoenix more than held 

her own as Cesira’s daughter Rosetta,” wrote Opera Today. “Her polished lyric 

soprano was at first alluring and full of girlish gleam, but Ms. Jade was later able 

to command a commendable amount of steel and darkness as her fate took 

a punishing turn. Her character has the most complex journey of the entire 

piece, from a dependent, innocent daughter to traumatized victim of sexual 

abuse. Vocally and dramatically, Ms. Phoenix dazzled.” 

Photo: Jade Phoenix in Old Ghosts publicity shot by Pato Cassinoni 

49

INO TEAM 

Pauline Ashwood 

Head of Planning 

James Bingham 

Studio & Outreach Producer 

Janaina Caldeira 

Bookkeeper 

Sorcha Carroll 

Communications Manager 

Aoife Daly 

Development Manager 

Diego Fasciati 

Executive Director 

Lea Försterling 

Digital Communications 

Executive 

Sarah Halpin 

Digital Producer 

Cate Kelliher 

Business & Finance Manager 

Audrey Keogan 

Development Executive 

Anne Kyle 

Stage Manager 

Patricia Malpas 

Studio & Outreach Executive 

Gavin O’Sullivan 

Head of Production 

Muireann Sheahan 

Orchestra & Chorus Manager 

Fergus Sheil 

Artistic Director 

David Smith 

Accountant part time 

Sarah Thursfield 

Marketing Executive 

Paula Tierney 

Company Stage Manager 

RJ Walters-Dorchak 

Artistic Administrator 

Board of Directors 

Jennifer Caldwell Chair 

Tara Erraught 

Gerard Howlin 

Dennis Jennings 

Gary Joyce 

Sara Moorhead 

Suzanne Nance 

Ann Nolan 

Bruce Stanley 

Jonathan Friend 

Artistic Advisor 

Elaine Kelly 

Resident Conductor 

Irish National Opera 

69 Dame Street 

Dublin 2 | Ireland 

T: 01–679 4962 

E: info@irishnationalopera.ie 

irishnationalopera.ie 

@irishnationalopera 

@irishnatopera 

@irishnationalopera 

Company Reg No.: 601853 

Registered Charity: 22403 

(RCN) 20204547 

50

STARRING 

SINÉAD CAMPBELL-WALLACE 

SUN 3 MARCH 2024 

NATIONAL OPERA THEATRE WEXFORD 

CONCERT PERFORMANCE 

TUE 12 – SAT 16 MARCH 2024 

BORD GÁIS ENERGY THEATRE DUBLIN 

TICKETS FROM €15 BOOKING: BORDGAISENERGYTHEATRE.IE 

Prices include a €1.50 facilities fee per ticket. Internet bookings are subject to a maximum s/c of €7.15 per ticket/Agents €3.40

La bohème 2023 Programme

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