Cork Grammy nominee: ‘The day before the awards is the best fun’

Cork opera conductor Elaine Kelly will be accompanied by her mother and sister when she attends the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles this Sunday.

Elaine, from the Mallow area, has been nominated for an award in the Best Opera Recording category for Emma O’Halloran’s opera double bill, Trade/Mary Motorhead.

Awards in this category are bestowed on the conductor, album producer(s) and principal soloists, and to the composer and librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere opera recording.

In all, there are six people nominated for Trade/Mary Motorhead, which was produced, recorded and primarily led by the Irish National Opera.

Elaine holds the honour of being the first Irish conductor to be nominated for a Grammy, an honour that was bestowed on her last year when she was nominated in the Best Choral Performance category for Akathist.

Speaking on Oliver Callan’s radio show last week, Elaine said that the Grammys is the “most surreal, ridiculous, champagne-filled blur.”

The awards recognise outstanding achievement in the music industry.

There will be two ceremonies on Sunday, in the afternoon and in the evening.

“Our category is at the afternoon ceremony, where 90% of the awards are given out. It’s for every music genre and takes place in the Peacock Theatre in LA. For the evening awards that are telecast, we’ll go to the nearby Crypto Arena.”

Nominees for those awards include Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Chappell Roan and Justin Bieber.

“I was there last year, so I know the ropes. The day before the awards is nearly the best fun. It’s called the Nominee Celebration, and it’s where you get your Tiffany medal. There are no winners or losers that night. It’s a party celebrating each other.

“So by Sunday, when you go into the awards, you’ll know people a bit better. I remember being so excited to be at the Grammys last year. It’s the same this year.”

Elaine is proud that the two contemporary librettos up for awards (based on plays by Emma O’Halloran’s uncle Mark O’Halloran) are sung in Irish accents with real place names referenced.

“You never hear place names and country accents in opera. Singers are taught to sing in a kind of neutral accent. But we have powered a midlands accent in Mary Motorhead (which sees a woman in prison after stabbing her husband, reflecting on the cataclysmic event) and a north inner city Dublin accent for Trade (which is about a confused young rent boy who sits with a middle-aged, blood- spattered client).”

The red carpet Grammys are a glamorous affair and Elaine will be wearing a striking outfit given to her by Phoenix V on Cork’s Maylor Street.

“As a conductor, I’m very picky about what I wear publicly. Phoenix V has given me a gorgeous outfit; It’s half suit and half gown. It’s silver-grey. There’s trousers and a very structured bodice with a massive train at the back.”

Elaine says that the Grammys award ceremonies are different to the Oscars.

“People push boundaries at the Grammys. You have every kind of music involved so you see the most outlandish and incredible outfits.”

Elaine is thrilled at the prospect of sitting alongside classical composers whose recordings she is “obsessed with. When it comes to the telecast award ceremony, you get a ringside seat. Last year, we got photos taken with Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Chappell Roan.”

Being nominated for a Grammy Award is good for Elaine’s career, particularly in the classical musical world.

“Nobody goes into a career like mine thinking they’re going to get a Grammy. Being nominated has certainly put me on the map more. It has given me more international recognition and more opportunities.”

Constantly travelling to wherever the work is, Elaine says her suitcase is always packed.

“If I have any time off, I like to get back to Mallow where my mam and my dog are. Otherwise, I don’t have a base. I love that I can be here, there and anywhere. For the next few months, I’m going to be all around the world, from LA to Australia to Dublin and Dubai. I enjoy travelling. I feel very privileged to be able to do this. Now, I’m sure there’ll come a time when I get older and will want to be more settled, but for now, I’m so happy.”

At just two-and-a-half, Elaine started to learn the violin. “My mother was pregnant with my sister Grace. She knew I needed something of my own, something to keep my attention. There was nobody in the family in the music business. But my mam is incredibly interested in music. From a very early age, we were taken to every kind of music; opera, ballet, pop and rock concerts.”

Elaine became a member of youth orchestras and choirs. She studied violin at MTU Cork School of Music.

“I was introduced to conducting by my incredible teacher, Alan Cutts, who has passed away. I always preferred playing in orchestras than playing on my own. When Alan saw me conducting, which is terrifying, he could see how much I was completely affected by it.

“There’s a big difference between playing for people and standing up, shaping how people are playing. It’s the most extraordinarily intoxicating feeling in the world. I immediately loved it. But there aren’t many female conductors in Ireland. I didn’t actually see it as a career possibility until I went to San Francisco on my J1. There, I saw a female conductor and rushed away when the concert was over to ring Alan Cutts. It was just a month before we were starting our final year of the undergraduate degree.

“I hadn’t put myself down for conducting as I thought it was something I’d do on the side. I told Alan I had changed my mind and wanted to do conducting. He said ‘yes’ and let me into the conducting class which I’m so thankful for. I went on to do a Masters in conducting at the Cork School of Music.”

The rest is history and who knows, having already made history by being the first Irish conductor nominated for a Grammy, Elaine might make more history by winning on February 1.