Naomi O' Connell, Mezzo-soprano (Rossini)

Naomi O'Connell and Brent Funderburk (piano) perform Rossini's song cycle "La Regata Veneziana" at the Steans Musical Institute at Ravinia:

Anzoleta avanti la regata
Anzoleta co passa la regatta (03:36)
Anzoleta dopo la regata (06:05)

Song translations: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/assemble_texts.html?SongCycleId=966

Hailed by the New York Times as "a radiant mezzo-soprano," Naomi O'Connell is the First Prize Winner of the 2011 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, and she also garnered First Prize at the Altamura/Caruso International Voice Competition, which took place just two weeks after CAG's 60th Annual International competition in October.

In the past year, Ms. O'Connell performed with the New York Festival of Song in their 'Roadtrip' concert at Alice Tully Hall, where critics hailed her performance as "evocative, appealing and expressive". In January, she performed for the Juilliard FOCUS! Festival, which was be podcast worldwide by WQXR's Q2 channel. Ms. O'Connell made her Lincoln Center debut last March in the Juilliard Honors Recital at Alice Tully Hall with pianist Brent Funderburk. She spent the summer 2011 at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont and the Steans Musical Institute at Ravinia where performed chamber music including Ravel's Chansons Madécasses, Strauss' Op. 27 songs, Rossini's La Regata Veneziana and Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles.

Upcoming engagements include the role of Zerlina in the Juilliard Opera production of Don Giovanni in April 2012, and her professional operatic debut in the UK next June, singing the title role in La Périchole with Garsington Opera.

Brought up in County Clare, Ireland, Ms. O'Connell holds a Masters in Music Degree from The Juilliard School and is currently pursuing the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program with voice teacher Dr. Robert White. The Irish Arts Council generously supports her studies and she has been awarded the Maurice R. Boyd Scholarship for Vocal Studies and the Makiko Narumi Prize for outstanding mezzo-soprano by The Juilliard School.

She has performed in venues throughout Ireland and Europe including the European Parliament (Strasbourg), St. Giles Cathedral (Edinburgh), First Presbyterian Church (Belfast), University Concert Hall (Limerick), St. Patrick's Cathedral (Dublin), Áras an Uachtaráin and the National Concert Hall. Her recordings have been broadcasted on RTE television, RTE Radio One, Clare FM and Lyric FM. Following her acceptance to The Juilliard School in April 2008, Ms. O'Connell performed on The Late Late Show, RTE Television, singing Macushla, a song made famous by Irish tenor John McCormack.

Concert repertoire performed includes Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles, Mahler's Rückert Lieder, Mozart's Requiem & Mass in C Minor, Brahms' Viola Songs Op.91, Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium and Elgar's The Music Makers. Ms. O'Connell has performed in master classes with artists such as Dame Gwyneth Jones, Joyce DiDonato, Sir Thomas Allen, Malcolm Martineau, Roger Vignoles and Ann Murray.

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