Aoife O’Connell

About Aoife

Irish soprano Aoife O’Connell has been described as ‘enchanting’ (Wales Online), ‘delightful’ (Seenandheard International) and ‘powerful’ (Theatre in Wales). She graduated with an MA in Opera Performance from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, a first class honours BA in Music Performance from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and an M.Phil in Theatre and Performance from Trinity College, Dublin. 

Aoife works as both an opera and oratorio soloist. Recent engagements include soloist in Handel’s Messiah (Bradford Choral Society) and Bach’s B Minor Mass (Harrogate Choral Society).

Upcoming engagements include soloist with Wicklow Choral Society in Haydn’s The Creation and ‘Wine and Song’, a fundraising concert for Wicklow Hospice in the Whale Theatre.

Previous highlights for Aoife was singing the soprano solo in Verdi’s Requiem in Ely Cathedral, performing in the Cork Midsummer Festival’s production of the Stalls, performing the role of Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata in a sold-out performance with the West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra as well as
jumping in at short notice to the Royal Academy Opera’s production of Flight by Jonathan Dove, playing the role of Controller.

Other operatic engagements have included singing Queen of the Night with the Opera North orchestra, Witch 1 in Verdi’s Macbeth (Iford Arts), Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (Opra Cymru), Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte (Birgitta Festival, RWCMD, Constella Ballet), Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Cork Opera House, Young Opera Venture and RWCMD), Fido in Britten’s Paul Bunyan (WNYO) and Controller in Dove’s Flight (RWCMD).

Aoife currently works as the Music Development Officer for Music Generation Meath, making performance music education accessible to all children and young people. (www.musicgenerationmeath.ie)

‘…but the star of this half was undoubtedly the guest Soprano Aoife O’Connell who delighted us with a selection of songs from musicals including the amazingly virtuosic Glitter and be Gay from Bernstein’s musical, Candide.’

Adrian Selway