BANISH THE WINTER BLUES WITH AN UPLIFTING NEW YEAR OF MUSIC AND SONG.

There is no need to cancel Christmas and let the economic gloom get you down!!!
The festive news is that Cork and Dublin will host what promises to be some of the brightest concerts of the New Year. 

Ireland’s supreme sopranos, Majella Cullagh, Mary Hegarty and Cara O’Sullivan will be on song in a twin-city extravaganza of music. And there is more! They will be accompanied by none other than the pride of Wales, Phillip Thomas at the piano. They will also be joined in Cork by the Cork Airport Singers and in Dublin by Voices of Limerick

All four principal artistes have managed to find the time in their hectic international schedules to be on the stage of City Hall, Cork on Saturday January 24th and the National Concert Hall, Dublin on Saturday January 31st, marking the 25th anniversary season of the Opera Gala series, which was started by Barra O’Tuama with his daughter Deirdre now maintaining a tradition which transformed the operatic concert scene in this country. Who will ever forget those remarkable first Gala concerts where discoveries like the young Italian tenor Mario Malagnini were made. Those were just the beginning of a remarkable series of concerts which attracted and continue to attract some of the greatest voices ever to be heard on the Irish concert stages.

Since presenting Cara, Majella and Mary in concert last year, Deirdre O’Tuama has been inundated by requests for their return to the Irish stages and so, this year they will sing a fantastic programme with piano and choir, harking back to those exciting early days of the Operatic Galas. 

Majella Cullagh is one of the most sought-after singers in the competitive world of operatic performance and she has appeared and continues to appear in venues all over the world from Dallas to Toulon and from Buenos Aires to Bergamo. Mary Hegarty has equally enraptured audiences all over the world with her exquisite interpretations of arias from the most challenging repertoire in opera. Cara O’Sullivan is an instinctive performer with a remarkable voice who is in demand on all the major operatic stages and Phillip Thomas needs no introduction to Irish audiences as he has been a star in his own right during his many appearances in the Gala series. To witness these performers in concert on the same stage is a rare opportunity to be in operatic heaven and should not be missed.

Tickets for these Cork and Dublin concerts are now on sale at:
Cork Opera House, Tel 021 4270022, www.corkoperahouse.ie  
National Concert Hall, Dublin, Tel 01 4170000, www.nch.ie  
Prices from €20 - €45, concessions available, booking fee may apply

This would make the perfect Christmas or New Year present.

These concerts are supported by AIB Bank Cork Region, Barry’s Tea, Evening Echo, Herbert Park Hotel, Dublin, Sunday Independent and Thomas Crosbie Holdings Ltd.