The NCH has announced Sarah Richmond as this year’s winner of the Bernadette Greevy Bursary for Singers. As part of her prize, the mezzo-soprano from Carrickfergus will perform at the NCH at the end of the next year in the Bernadette Greevy Bursary Recital and will receive a sum of €5,000. This year’s award was adjudicated by conductor David Brophy and opera singer Naomi Louisa O’Connell.  

Richmond studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where she graduated as a Draper’s de Turckheim Scholar. She previously worked with English National Opera as part of the company’s Opera Works Artist programme and trained on the National Opera Studio short course. She has also worked with Irish National Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, The Belfast Ensemble, Spark Opera and Lyric Opera. Her previous awards include the Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for the Singing of Strauss, Best Performance in German at Donauwelle International Music Competition, Third Prize plus Special Mozart Prize at Concorso Lirico Toscanini, and the 2021 Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition. 

Commenting on her win, Richmond said:

I am hugely relieved to have my studies and international audition tour funded. I look forward to training in Ireland and Berlin, alongside applying for performance opportunities. Thank you so much for this vital support.

Adjudicator Naomi Louisa O’Connell said: 

Sarah’s ability to fully inhabit the repertoire she was performing – both vocally and dramatically – was exceptional. Her performance was highly polished, intensely focused, and exciting to witness. I look forward to seeing her work on international stages.

The award is named in memory of the renowned Irish mezzo Bernadette Greevy (1940–2008), who was also Artistic Director of the Anna Livia International Opera Festival and Artist in Residence at the Dublin Institute of Technology. The award aims to provide opportunities for emerging Irish singers. The competition opened for applications earlier this year and, after an initial round of applications, finalists were called back for a live audition.

Previous winners include Susie Gibbons, Sinéad O’Kelly, Sarah Brady, Padraic Rowan, Róisín Walsh, Gemma Ní Bhriain, Jennifer Davis, Rachel Kelly, Aoife Miskelly and Gavan Ring.

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