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About
Irish Mezzo-Soprano Paula Murrihy received her Bachelor in Music from DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin before continuing her studies in North America at the New England Conservatory. Paula has also participated in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, was an apprentice at Santa Fe Opera and also part of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program.
After being spotted at the Neue Stimmen Competition by Frankfurt Opera’s General Director, Paula was asked to join their acclaimed ensemble. Her numerous appearances have included Annio La Clemenza di Tito, Medoro Orlando Furioso, Dido Dido and Aeneas, Lazuli L’étoile, Dorabella Cosi fan tutte, Orontea and Octavian Der Rosenkavalier, Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, and Polissena in Radamisto. She made her role debut as Carmen to critical acclaim with the highly successful team behind Dido & Aeneas – Barrie Kosky and Constantinos Carydis. Paula maintains a close connection with the United States and has appeared as Ino in Semele for Boston Lyric Opera, 2nd Lady Die Zauberflöte at Santa Fe Opera, Annio at the Chicago Opera Theater, Cherubino Ghosts of Versailles for Opera Theatre St Louis and Dido for Los Angeles Opera. In Europe, Paula made her debut at Covent Garden as Tebaldo Don Carlo, and returned as Mercedes Carmen. She has appeared as Annio at the Théâtre Capitole Toulouse, as Medoro at Opéra de Nice, as Ascanio in Terry Gilliam’s production of Benvenuto Cellini at English National Opera, and more recently as Octavian Der Rosenkavalier at De Nationale Opera Amsterdam and the Staatsoper Stuttgart.
On the concert platform, Paula’s extensive repertoire includes Vivaldi’s Gloria, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Schubert’s Mass in C, Bach’s St John Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem. She has appeared regularly with the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where she premiered John Harbison’s Symphony No. 6. She recently appeared with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris in Handel’s Messiah, the Nederlandse Programma Stichting in Handel’s Solomon, Alexander’s Feastand Honneger’s Judith, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the St Paul Chamber Orchestra in performances of Bach’s St Matthew Passion and made her debut at the BBC Proms in Haydn’s Paukenmesse. Last season Paula sang Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with MusicAeterna and Teodor Currentzis, and joined the conductor this summer for a performance of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Hindemith’s Die Junge Magd at the Diaghilev Festival in Perm. An accomplished recitalist, Paula has performed at Aldeburgh Festival and with the Irish Chamber Orchestra in the Shannon International Music Festival and the Chancellor’s Concert at the University of Limerick. She recently gave a recital in Frankfurt with accompanist Malcolm Martineau.
Recent career highlights include her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York as Stéphano Roméo et Juliette, appearances at Santa Fe Opera as Ruggiero in Alcina and Orlofsky Die Fledermaus as well her debut at Opernhaus Zürich as Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro. On the concert platform Paula appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Beethoven Missa Solemnis), North Carolina Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven Symphony 9), the Handel and Haydn Society (Juno/Ino in Semele) and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Elijah). She also joined Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna for performances of Purcell’s Indian Queen, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.
The 2017-18 season sees Paula return to Opernhaus Zürich for Concepcion L’Heure Espagnole and Maman L’Enfant et les sortilèges. She will make her house debut at Teatro Real, Madrid as Frances, Countess of Essex in David McVicar’s new production of Gloriana, and will return to the Nationale Opera Amsterdam as La Muse/Nicklausse Les contes d’Hoffmann. On the concert platform Paula sings Christmas Oratorio with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with Boston Baroque, and Bach Cantatas with Les Violons du Roy, Canada. She makes her role debut as Sesto La Clemenza di Tito, with the Orchestra of the 18th Century on a concert tour of the Netherlands.