Carlow soprano the star turn at NSO lunchtime concert

A CARLOW soprano will once again light up the stage of the National Concert Hall in the first of the National Symphony Orchestra’s (NSO) summer lunchtime concerts.

Kathleen Nic Dhiarmada is the soprano for the much-anticipated concert, which takes place on the concert hall’s main stage at 1.05pm on Tuesday 10 June. The conductor is Anthony Gabriele while the event is presented by Liz Nolan of RTÉ Lyric FM During the performance, Kathleen will deliver three of opera’s most affecting arias: the sublime yearning of Dvořák’s **Song to the Moon**, Puccini’s amorously-charged **Quando m’en vo** from **La bohème** and Verdi’s ravishing **È strano…ah fors’è lui…sempre libera** from **La traviata**.

Kathleen’s career as a soprano has gone from strength to strength. As a member of the Irish National Opera Young Artist Studio for the 2022/23 season, Kathleen covered the roles of Norina in ***Don Pasquale*** and Fiordiligi in ***Cosí fan tutte***.

While studying at Royal Academy Opera under the tutelage of Kate Paterson, Raymond Connell and Ingrid Surgenor, Kathleen performed the roles of Lauretta in ***Gianni Schicchi*** and Helena in **A Midsummer Night’s Dream**.

Other roles include Suor Dolcina in **Suor Angelica** (Wexford Festival Opera), Musetta in **La Bohème** (Hampstead Garden Opera), Poppea in **L’incoronazione di Poppea** and Morgana in **Alcina*** (Ensemble OrQuesta).

As an Alvarez Young Artist at Garsington Opera, Kathleen performed the role of Fiordiligi for their annual OperaFirst performance. Kathleen previously worked at Glyndebourne, an opera house in East Sussex, where she was a Jerwood Young Artist, covering Papagena in ***Die Zauberflöte*** and singing in the chorus.

Kathleen was generously supported by the Carr-Gregory trust during her studies at Royal Academy Opera and is currently supported by the Irish Arts Council Agility Award.

In March 2023, Kathleen won the Dramatic Cup at the Dublin Feis Ceoil, which enabled her to travel to New York to study with James Smidt (Haus of Shmizzay) and Rachelle Jonck, both of whom she still works with.

Tickets for the NSO lunchtime concert cost €15 and are available from the National Concert Hall website.