Cork soprano to sing Beatles classics at upcoming proms

MUSIC from Beethoven, Broadway and The Beatles will be performed at the Cork Proms event at the Opera House next month, featuring the venue’s concert orchestra.

It kicks off on April 6 when John O’Brien will lead the orchestra in performances of Beethoven and concludes on April 13 with a celebration of the Fab Four.

Cork soprano, Emma Nash, says she will be stepping outside of her comfort zone when she, among other performers, sings Beatles’ songs.

“I don’t want to limit myself just to opera. I love opera but I like getting stuck into other things because there’s so much happening musically, especially in Cork.

“Who wouldn’t want an opportunity to sing Beatles’ songs with a full orchestra? I can’t wait to be a rock star for a while,” she says laughing.

“We’re trying not to do the obvious Beatles’ numbers. There’s a lot of classical influences in the Beatles. The way they wrote was actually very lyrical. I’m finding that a lot of their songs really suit my voice. I’m doing a song, Across The Universe, it was in one of those juke box movies where a lot of Beatles’ songs were used.

“I’m also doing an arrangement of If I Fell. I love Blackbird and also Golden Slumbers. That was influenced by Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.”

Growing up in Douglas, Emma loved singing and was in various choirs. She joined CADA Performing Arts.

“Then I discovered this world of opera and classical singing. I thought it was the Olympics of singing. I thought people were born with those voices like Charlotte Church until I found out you could train to sing like that.”

At Scoil Mhuire, Emma was encouraged to join the Irish Youth Choir.

“I got in. That’s kind of where it all started.”

Emma went to UCC where she studied drama and theatre as well as music. When she met Suzanne Murphy, who became her singing teacher, she followed her to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

“That was a great experience. I got so much attention. I would have been swallowed up in London where there are so many singers. I had great opportunities in Cardiff, taking part in full scale operas.”

About six years ago, Emma returned to Cork where she found plenty of work at the Opera House (where CEO Eibhlin Gleeson is a great supporter of hers) and through the Irish National Opera (INO).

“The INO are creating a huge amount of opera work for young singers in Ireland. And we have the Cara O’Sullivan Associate Artist programme honouring Cara’s legacy (which has also provided opportunities for artists performing for local audiences.)”

Emma, a huge admirer of the much-missed Cara (who died in 2021), has been a familiar face at Wexford Opera Festival productions. She was the winner in 2017 of the festival’s Emerging Young Artist bursary.

How does Emma keep her voice in good condition?

“It’s like going to the gym. I go to the gym and stay fit and healthy. It’s like the same thing for my voice. I do various vocalising exercises every day. 

"During the pandemic, that was tricky but I was lucky to have a good bit of online work that kept me going... I’m glad to see the back of the online stuff because it was a little scary. We did a live broadcast to an empty auditorium. I was afraid that something would go wrong with the technology. And there was no audience to feed off. Obviously I’m delighted to have audiences back.”

One of the high points of Emma’s career was performing a small role in an opera version of Medea at the Wexford Opera Festival, directed by Cork-born actor and director, Fiona Shaw.

“I was straight up to her saying I went to Scoil Mhuire too. There was camaraderie there. I’ve always been a big admirer of Fiona’s theatre work, including her interpretation of Beckett.”

Soprano Majella Cullagh, one of Ireland’s foremost international opera singers, will perform Broadway hits at the Cork Proms.

“I’ll be doing Rodgers and Hammerstein material as well as Lehár and Sondheim. I’m doing a duet with Joseph Corbett called A Little Priest from Sweeney Todd.”

Majella is older than Emma and says that it’s interesting how her voice has evolved over her career.

“I’ve gone from having a much lighter soubrette voice to a light lyric voice to lyric coloratura to full lyric. There is no natural progress. It’s different for everybody. But what’s lovely for me is that I haven’t really lost anything, maybe one note at the top. But my voice has become richer which is appropriate because I’m singing more mature roles.”

When Cara O’Sullivan was alive, Majella says she was part of a triumvirate, along with Mary Hegarty. Majella is good friends with Emma.

“Because we both have this passion for singing and music, we often talk about repertoire and technical issues, vocal production and our work experiences. I’ve been around longer so I have a bit more experience of working with directors, composer and conductors.

“It’s always good to talk to someone who understands your situation. As artists, we greatly admire each other’s talent and work ethic.”

It wasn’t until she was 24 that Majella had her first singing lesson.

“I was a late starter. Nobody believes this but I was extremely shy as a teenager. I was incompetent socially. I couldn’t cope with talking to people I didn’t know. Also, I was a very sheltered only child,” says this past pupil of St Patricks on Gardiner Hill.

It was only when Majella joined a band as the singer that she came out of her shell.

“We did weddings and country and western, sometimes performing in pubs. There had been these amazing musicians like Ray O’Donoghue in the ’50s and ’60s. Then when disco came in the ’70s and ’80s, they weren’t working in the same way. But they were still around and young enough to play. Ray was this extraordinary musician. When my mother forced me to enter a talent competition, he accompanied me. I sang everything from Madonna to Barbra Streisand. I loved it, but classical music was always in the background because my father loved it.”

Frank Buckley, who was the conductor of the Cork Male Choir, said that Majella ought to have her voice trained.

“So I did a Cork School of Music (CSM) audition where I sang The Bold Fenian Men. They said I had a good instrument. I got my voice trained at the CSM. It was weird. I had so little repertoire initially. I sang there for three years and then I auditioned for the National Opera Studio in England. 

"My teacher confessed to me afterwards that she only sent me to the audition for the experience. I got in – but I didn’t sing a rebel song that time! I sang a number of arias.”

Majella’s career used to involve a lot of travel.

“I lived out of a suitcase. I absolutely loved it. It was the right thing for me at the time. Now, it would be the wrong thing for me.”

While Majella still enjoys a certain amount of international work, she has a day job – teaching at MTU CSM.

“It’s great. There’s no stagnation in my life. I used to teach at the Montforts so I have a musical theatre background. Teaching is a wonderful experience. I feel like I’m carrying on a tradition.”

For more on the Cork Proms 2023 see www.corkoperahouse.ie