Mary G O'Brien: ‘The Society was one minute from folding... I was their last chance’

A self-described shy person, it was just as well that Dr Mary G O’Brien put herself forward as the saviour of the Cork Operatic Society about four years ago when it looked like the society was going to fold.

Mary, who is the musical director of the forthcoming production of L’Orfeo at MTU Cork School of Music, realised that without a conductor, the Cork Operatic Society couldn’t keep going.

While the society members knew Mary as a singer, they didn’t realise she is also an internationally trained conductor. The Cork Operatic Society “was one minute from folding when the girl beside me said that I was their last chance. So I went for it.”

The Cork Operatic Society was founded in 1918 to revitalise grassroots opera in the city. It brings together a growing chorus of dedicated local singers working alongside professional musicians and artistic mentors.

The society played a significant role in Cork’s vibrant amateur operatic tradition throughout much of the 20th century. Following fluctuating activity, it was formally re-established in its current structure in July, 2009.

This not-for-profit organisation has had its challenges because of the pandemic. But it is back on its feet, with strong community participation and a mission to nurture local talent, broaden access to opera and contribute to Cork’s cultural life. It has received funding from Cork City Council and has fundraised to stage L’Orfeo.

Mary, who teaches music at Ashton Secondary School, having introduced the subject there, is full of fond memories of the Cork Operatic Society. She recalls the society sharing the Cork Opera House stage with the likes of the late Cara O’Sullivan, Joe Corbett, Majella Cullagh, Karen Underwood, and “many other great soloists”.

A past pupil of the former Loreto Secondary School in Youghal, Mary says that from the middle of her first year there, she knew she wanted to be a secondary school teacher of music.

“I just feel that I’ve been given the gift of music and it’s my job to pass that gift on to as many people as I can, ranging from two years of age up to ninety or 100 years,” she enthuses.

She teaches community choirs, and she says she gets a great kick out of seeing her pupils at Ashton “walking along the corridor singing a song that I wrote. My job is to inspire others with opera.”

Mary’s three siblings are all musical. Her brother John O’Brien is an accomplished composer who is “brilliant at what he does”. The O’Briens’ parents were not particularly musical, but Mary was drawn to music at an early age and kept “begging” her parents to allow her to learn music.

“My grandparents gave us their piano when I was about three. I had a fascination with it. I used to keep calling to a piano teacher, Mary Crowley, asking her when I could start playing the piano. She told me my fingers weren’t big enough yet.”

Another local teacher, Judy O’Callaghan, taught Mary how to play the recorder “although I couldn’t reach all the notes on it because I was so small. Later, she taught me how to read music.

“We were in a choir with her and I got used to the idea of singing in church every Sunday from the age of four. The only time in my life when I didn’t sing in a church was during covid. I missed it so much.”

Mary, who started teaching music at Ashton in 2011 outside school hours before being officially staffed in 2016, spent a year working for the Association of Irish Choirs as education and outreach officer. But she knew that teaching was her calling.

She started her Bachelor of Music degree at the Cork School of Music in 1995, the inaugural year of the degree.

She graduated in 1999, having specialised in class teaching with conducting as one of her modules.

She went on to complete a graduate diploma in music education at the University of Limerick.

Mary spent a year in Hungary, where she studied for a diploma in choral conducting under Dr Péter Erdei at the Kodály Institute. She has since attended many summer schools in Hungary, specialising in choral conducting.

Last week, Mary took the Ashton School Choir to the inaugural Cantaquera International Choral Festival in Antequera outside Malaga, in Spain. There, the choristers were due to premiere Mary’s composition, A Musical Ode. “We will also sing this piece at the Cork International Choral Festival at St Luke’s Church in Douglas on the first day of the festival.”

It’s all go for Mary, who is passionate about opera and proud of her hard-working cast. She is directing 24 singers in L’Orfeo by Monteverdi. This opera, based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, tells the story of his descent into hell and his fruitless attempt to bring his dead bride, Eurydice, back to the living world.

Special guests are Brigitte van der Stam as the messenger, Pawel Switaj as Caronte, Michael Krauss as Pluto, Gráinne Stafford as Speranza/Prosperina, Gemma Magnier as Eurydice, Siobhan Oliver-O’Callaghan in the trousered role of Orfeo, and Colum McCormack-Crowe as the narrator.

“These are people who have been in the opera before and are now launching solo careers, so we’re giving them a platform to play in the chorus.”

For a shy artist, Mary has come a long way.

An Afternoon at the Opera, The Story of Orfeo, will be performed at MTU Cork School of Music on March 21 and 22 at 3pm.

Tickets can be bought at https://www.ticketsource.com/cork-operatic-society or via Louise O’Sullivan at 086 1748649.

There will be some tickets available at the door on the days of the opera.