Anna Brady (soprano) is a first-year singing student on the Performing Graduate Course at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, where she is studying singing with Sylvia O’Regan, and repertoire and interpretation with Mairead Hurley. She was awarded first prize and the Mary Brennan Cup in the Feis Ceoil and then the MacGreevy Rose Bowl for soprano singing by the Feis Ceoil, both in 2007. She was also awarded the Corn Toccata House Cup and the Kitty O’Callaghan Cup, both at the Feis Ceoil. Anna was an award-winner at the recent Thomas Moore Festival in January 2008; an important part of the award is the chance to record a track on the Thomas Moore CD, to be recorded later this year by RTÉ Lyric FM. She has been given a place at the Norfolk Opera Summer School in July, where she will take part in master classes, and participate in the production of Theodora by Handel, and she will sing the role of Papagena in the DIT production of Mozart’s Magic Flute in October.
Benjamin Russell (baritone) has been studying singing with Sylvia O’Regan for the past three years and the accompanist Roy Holmes. Recent competition successes include finalist (and most promising performer award) in the RIAM Irené Sandford Award for Singers competition 2008, first prize in the Arklow Music Festival 2007 men’s solo, first prize in the Rathdown Music Festival 2007 Popular Song category, and second prize in the Feis Ceoil 2007 Rathmines & Rathgar Cup. In 2006 he won overall first prizes in both the Wesley and Newpark Festivals, and was Highly Commended in the Feis Ceoil Paul Deegan Cup. While a choral and music scholar here, he played many leading drama rôles including Malvolio in Twelfth Night and Stepan Stepanovitch Tschubukov in Chekhov’s A Marriage Proposal for which he received the Best Actor award at the St. Andrew's Festival. At our 2006 Carol Service he sang the baritone solo in extracts from Handel’s Judas Maccabeus. Last November he took the title rôle in a new adaptation of Gluck’s Orpheus for Cork Opera Works in Cork Opera House. He is looking forward to pursuing an exciting singing career.
James Danaswamy (bass-baritone) started at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir School when eight, before coming to St. Columba’s where he studied music academically, joined many of the College’s choirs and took part in school plays. Studying with Sylvia O’Regan he took a greater interest in performing and decided to pursue it as a career, gaining experience from such stage performances as giving a full recital at Rathdown Music Centre and a lunchtime recital in St. Stephen’s Church. Last year, he was runner-up in the bass solo in the Dublin Feis Ceoil, and in the men’s solo in Arklow Music Festival. In 2007 he won first prizes both in the classical and popular song competitions, as well as the overall classical prize at Wesley Festival, and first place and joint Best Performer overall in the Rathdown Festival. He has also won first prizes in the classical song categories at Wesley and Newpark, and was Highly Commended in the Paul Deegan Cup in the Dublin Feis Ceoil. He is currently studying in D.I.T in the Conservatory of Music and Drama with Sylvia O’Regan and Mairead Hurley.
Mairead Hurley (accompanist) studied piano under Rhona Marshall at the RIAM, and music at UCD. She works as a full-time repetiteur at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, and has worked for Opera Ireland every season since 1996, and with a repertoire of over 60 operas with Wexford Festival Opera, Opera Theatre Company, Opera Northern Ireland and Lyric Opera. She has also worked extensively with RTÉ, and has officiated at many music festivals throughout the country. Pupils in Choirs : Sope Anthony-Ojolola, Valentin Boehm, Molly Buckingham, Kate Boyd Crotty, Marie von Dewitz, Michael Dunne, Lingfan Gao, Sophie Haslett, Hugo Hollis, Robbie Hollis, Shannon Keogan, Tanaka Khoza, Poppy Kirwan-Browne, Albert Kyd-Rebenburg, Ludmila Lobkowicz, Fred Mann, Andrew Martin, Michael McBurney, Lauren Meyler, Cordelia Mulholland, Gretta Neary, Olivia Plunket, Jane Quigley, Rory Quinn, Ellie Russell, Tim Ryan, Louisa Scott, Amelia Shirley, Max Shirley, Oliver Smith, Milo Stuart, Helene Tonner, Joanna Tottenham, Anna Traill, Poppy Vernon, Sarah Warren, Hannah Wentges, Rosemary Wentges, Daphne Wright, Kezia Wright. Staff in Choirs : Tristan Clarke, John Fanagan, Barry Finn, Julian Girdham, Anne Hallahan, Lindsay Haslett, Marie Haslett, Ronan Swift.
Programme SINE NOMINE CHOIR (conductor, Tristan Clarke) Il est bel et bon (Pierre Passerau) JAMES DANASWAMY Spring Sorrow (John Ireland) and Captain Stratton’s Fancy (Peter Warlock) BENJAMIN RUSSELL Go Lovely Rose (Roger Quilter) ANNA BRADY At the Well (Richard Hageman) CHAMBER CHOIR (conductor, Geraldine Malone-Brady) All I Ask of You (from The Phantom of the Opera) ANNA BRADY Adieu, notre petite table (Jules Massenet, from Manon) ANNA BRADY & JAMES DANASWAMY Cinque... dieci... venti (Mozart, from The Marriage of Figaro) JAMES DANASWAMY Se vuol ballare (Mozart, from The Marriage of Figaro) BENJAMIN RUSSELL Papagena, Papagena, Papagena (Mozart, from The Magic Flute) BENJAMIN RUSSELL & JAMES DANASWAMY O statua gentilissima (Mozart, from Don Giovanni) BARBERSHOP GROUP (leader, Barry Finn) BENJAMIN RUSSELL Old Man River (Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern, from Showboat) JAMES DANASWAMY The Salley Gardens (arranged by Benjamin Britten) ANNA BRADY Silent O Moyle (Thomas Moore) The Moon and I (Gilbert and Sullivan, from The Mikado) BENJAMIN RUSSELL I am the Very Model (Gilbert and Sullivan, from The Pirates of Penzance) FESTIVAL CHOIR & SOLOISTS (conductor, Geraldine Malone-Brady) The Heavens are Telling (Joseph Haydn, from The Creation)
The Cadogan The New Building was opened as a boarding house and classrooms in September 1896. Three months later it was gutted by the Great Fire which started in the Schoolroom and then nearly destroyed the rest of the school. The boys evacuated the dormitories at 4am using sheets, and by jumping from the upper floor windows. The rebuilt building was opened in May 1898 by the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Cadogan. For much of its existence it was occupied by Glen and, more recently, by Stackallan, who vacated it at the end of 2005. It now provides a large teaching and performance area upstairs, six spacious practice and teaching rooms downstairs, a storage and costume area for drama, and ancillary rooms. It also completes a performance complex, linking with the Big Schoolroom and the Drama Room. The architect for the conversion was David Jordan of Campbell Conroy Hickey Partnership, and the builders were Patrick Brock & Son Ltd (the same combination who were in charge of the recent conversion of the Argyle Building). The pianos in the building were supplied by Tynan Pianos, Rathmines.
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
Friday 18th April, at 8pm in the Chapel ST COLUMBA’S CHORAL SOCIETY The Armed Man, by Karl Jenkins Gloria, by Antonio Vivaldi All are welcome. No entry charge.
Saturday 17th May, at 8pm in the Big Schoolroom SIXTH GALA CONCERT featuring Aisling Drury-Byrne (cello) and the choirs and music pupils of the College. Tickets will be on sale shortly.
The artwork on the front of this programme is by Celeste Guinness.