BVOF Classics at Christmas
Delight in a taste of the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival at Castlemartyr Resort on Sunday, 10th December 2023. Enjoy a seasonal 3-course lunch in the Canopy Restaurant followed by a special BVOF concert at 3pm in the Kiltha Suite.
Guests are warmly invited to savour the culinary delights of Castlemartyr Resort with a sumptuous Sunday Lunch at the renowned Canopy Restaurant, available for €52.50 per person for three courses. Indulge in a gastronomic journey that perfectly complements the upcoming musical experience. This afternoon concert will feature tenor Stephen Walker and soprano Aimee Banks accompanied by Doireann O’Carroll on piano – with an exciting programme of classical pieces, well-known opera arias, and some festive favourites to round off this special occasion.
Doireann O’Carroll is a 25-year-old pianist and multi-instrumentalist from Tralee. Doireann studied at the Kerry School of Music in Tralee from the age of four. Eventually, she moved on to study with Eleanor Malone at the MTU Cork School of Music where she graduated with a First Class Honours BMus degree majoring in Performance and Conducting. She has had six years of experience teaching the piano, violin, cello, viola and harp. Doireann is now in her final year of the Masters in Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music under Professor Thérèse Fahy and was recently Repetiteur under David Brophy on Stephen McNeff’s world premiere of Spirits Unsurrendered in a co-production for Then This / RIAM Opera at Kilmainham Gaol.
Stephen Walker is a young tenor from Ireland studying with Dr Robert Alderson. He recently completed his undergraduate degree in music at the TU Dublin Conservatoire. Stephen is fortunate to have had many opportunities to perform in productions and concerts in Ireland and the UK. He recently represented Ireland in the Romantic National Song Network concert series held in Glasgow, Scotland, and is a featured artist on the Network’s website. Stephen is a multi-prize winner at various competitions. Recent successes include the Dermot Troy Trophy for Oratorio singing in 2022, and the Tenor Solo and Count John McCormack Bursary in 2019, all at the Feis Ceoil.
Recent notable achievements include being accepted to work with the Glyndebourne Academy for young singers in Glyndebourne Opera in 2021, and performing in the BVOF Chorus of Gluck’s Orfeo at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival.
Aimee Banks, from Galway, is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Music Performance with Kathleen Tynan, Head of Opera and Vocal Studies at The Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin. She has attended Masterclasses with Ricardo Tamura, Stefania Dohvan, Mark Sampson, Bruno Caproni and Julian Evans, Imelda Drumm and Della Jones. Aimee has received numerous awards, notable successes include The Irene Sandford Award and Bursary 2022, The Birr Lions Club Bursary at Birr Festival of Music 2022, The Vladimir Piontkovsky Memorial Scholarship at Saluzzo Opera Academy 2022, as well as a multi-award winner at the Newpark Festival of Music 2023 & Dublin Feis Ceoil 2022.
Aimee debuted as the young Giordano Bruno in Roger Doyle’s Opera, Heresy, and roles include Amore and Damigella in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at Saluzzo Opera Academy 2022, Damigella in RIAM Opera’s production of La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina by Caccini, recently in the chorus for BVOF’s 2023 production of Verdi’s Macbeth and as May Zambra in Stephen McNeffs world premiere of Spirits Unsurrendered in a co-production for Then This / RIAM Opera at Kilmainham Gaol.
