A Winter Lunchtime at the Opera

Sandra Oman, soprano;
Simon Morgan, baritone;
Leah Walsh, mezzo soprano;
​​​​​​​and James Connolly, baritone. 

Welcome to a lunchtime celebration of opera!!! An operatic gala which includes well-loved arias, duets, and ensembles from La Traviata, La Bohème, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, L’Elisir d’Amore, The Tales of Hoffman, Così Fan Tutte, and The Merry Widow. Featuring established artists Sandra Oman soprano, Simon Morgan baritone, and David Wray piano, who have performed on both national and international operatic platforms, and TU Dublin Conservatoire emerging stars, who are commencing their careers at the Wexford Festival Opera and at the National Concert Hall Dublin. Bringing opera to a lunchtime audience! Dublin-born soprano, producer and researcher, Sandra Oman, was the 2004 recipient of the Margaret Burke Sheridan Memorial Award for excellence in the field of opera.  Sandra has performed extensively in opera and concert in Ireland, UK, USA, Italy, Germany, Faroe Islands, Latvia, and Poland and has interpreted over 40 operatic roles on stage.   A favourite with Opera Ireland at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, she performed principal roles with them in twelve different seasons, including roles in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cosi Fan Tutte, La Cenerentola, Dead Man Walking and A Streetcar named Desire.  She has performed in concert with both the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the RTE Concert Orchestra and has sung as soprano soloist with virtually all of Ireland's major choral societies.  She has two Number One Albums on the iTunes Vocal Charts to her credit, entitled LIBERTY and NOËL. In 2022, she was awarded an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Scholarship for her PhD research studies on Giacomo Puccini. She was awarded Doctor of Philosophy from TU Dublin Conservatoire in 2025, where she also lectures. Simon Morgan, baritone’s operatic roles include Ipparco in L’Egisto by Cavalli, Cox in Sullivan’s Cox and Box, and Belcore in L’Elisir D’Amore, at the National Concert Hall of Ireland; Marcello in La Boheme with Loughcrew Opera; Silvio in I Pagliacci with Wonderland Productions; Aeneas in the Cork Opera House Production of Dido and Aeneas. He performed as Silvio in The Everyman Palace Theatre’s production of I Pagliacci, which won the Best Opera Production Award at the Irish Times Theatre Awards 2013. He has toured Kilkenny Arts Festival, Galway, Cork, and Wicklow, as Aeneas, in Cork Opera House’s touring production of Dido and Aeneas (with the three great Cork Sopranos, Cara O Sullivan, Majella Cullagh, and Mary Hegarty). Leah Walsh is a 20-year-old vocal student, training with Mairéad Buicke in TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Drama. She has won several competitions across the country in Feis Ceoil, Feis Maitiú, and Féile Luimnigh. She also recently won the in-house Leo Maguire Cup for Irish Song. She recently made her operatic debut in the role of Nancy Albert Herring in TU Dublin Conservatoire’s operatic presentation, ‘Within These Walls, January 2026. She subsequently performed the role of Second Lady in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Birr Festival of Music and will interpret the role of Sorceress in the same opera at the National Concert Hall in October. In January 2027, she will interpret the role of Drusilla in TU Dublin Conservatoire’s production of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. James Connolly, baritone, is a student of Emmanuel Lawler at TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Drama. He recently won the Messiah Cup in the university competitions. Recent performances include the role of ‘Pilatus’ with the Dublin Bach Singers’ performance of St. John’s Passion, as well as multiple performances with the TU Dublin Choral Society, including works by Franck and Brahms, and most notably his Handel’s Messiah debut in Brownlow House in 2025. He has also performed numerous mass settings including works by Mozart and Haydn with the University of Dublin Choral Society, the TU Dublin Choral Society, Carlow Choral Society, and the Palestrina Choir, of which he has been a member for almost ten years. James interpreted the role of Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in the Black Box Theatre of TU Dublin Conservatoire, Grangegorman, and subsequently, for Dublin City Council’s Opera in the Open summer opera festival, performing to an audience of approximately 2,000 patrons For Loughcrew Opera, he was part of the professional chorus of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, August 2026. In January 2027, he will interpret the role of Mercurio in TU Dublin Conservatoire’s production of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea.

Presented by Sheldon Nulty Music