‘The Salon Series’ is a set of six performances staged in the round in beautiful and historic NI venues and performed by artists from across the island of Ireland. The series will be performed six times throughout 2023 across different locations in Northern Ireland, comprising 36 performances in total.
‘The Salon Series’ features evenings of one-act operas, song cycles, cabaret, art song and music theatre, taking place in venues including the Throne Room in Hillsborough Castle, C Wing of Crumlin Road Gaol and St Columb’s Hall in Derry/Londonderry and the Courtyard Theatre in Newtownabbey.
Northern Ireland Opera’s CEO and Artistic Director, Cameron Menzies, comments, “The Salon Series’ is a programme I’ve been thinking about since I joined Northern Ireland Opera in 2021 as Artistic Director. These intimate productions, staged in the round will be a wonderful musical experience for the audience and they enable us to tour and showcase some of the island’s most accomplished artists, including opera singers, music theatre performers and pianists. The Salon Series sees Northern Ireland Opera back to touring across the country during 2023, giving audiences across the country the opportunity to experience the drama and spectacle of live performance in some of the our most celebrated and recognisable locations and venues.”
The series will launch on 11 February with Francis Poulenc’s ‘La Voix Humaine’, a 50 minute one-woman opera based on a play written by Jean Cocteau. It will be performed by Northern Irish artists soprano Mary McCabe and pianist David Quigley. Mary McCabe said, “It has been so thrilling to work on ‘La Voix Humaine’ with pianist, David Quigley and director, Cameron Menzies. Delving into such a frenetic, emotional and dramatic score has been an incredible experience. It will be so exciting to share this remarkable and intimate opera with Northern Irish audiences.”
Pianist David Quigley adds, ‘It has been a real pleasure to work with Mary McCabe on Poulenc’s powerful and tragic opera ‘La Voix Humaine’. I am a big fan of Poulenc’s music, having performed most of his chamber music works in the past. ‘La Voix Humaine’ is new to me and I am so enjoying exploring this fascinating one act opera. Mary and I are very excited to have the opportunity to present it to Northern Ireland audiences in some of the province’s most historic and beautiful locations.’
The inaugural performances of the Salon Series run between 11 February and 11 March 2023 and event details are as follows:
The Salon Series:
- 11 February, ‘La Voix Humaine’ (Poulenc) performed by soprano Mary McCabe and pianist David Quigley in the Throne Room, Hillsborough Castle.
- 18 February, ‘Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered’ performed by soprano Wendy Ferguson and pianist Ruth McGinley at St Columb’s Hall, Derry/Londonderry
- 19 February, ‘Sea Wrack’, Irish Art Songs, performed by soprano Susie Gibbons, mezzo soprano Jenny Bourke, tenor Michael Bell, baritone Seamus Brady and pianist Frasier Hickland at St Joseph’s, Sailortown
- 23 February ‘The Lost Boy: Street Scenes and Soldiers Tales’, performed by vocalist Conor Quinn at The New Orpheus, Hill St, Belfast
- 8 March, ‘Songs and Dances of Death’ (Mussorgsky) performed by baritone Brendan Collins and Kindertotenlieder (Mahler) performed by mezzo soprano Margaret Bridge, and pianist Tristan Russcher at the Circle and C Wing, Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast
- 11 March, Les Nuits D’Été (Berlioz), performed by mezzo Sinéad O’Kelly and pianist Bryan Evans in the Courtyard Theatre, Newtownabbey.
Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music and Opera at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland comments, “The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted to support Northern Ireland Opera and The Salon Series which offers operatic artists from the region the opportunity to perform stunning operatic repertoire in amazing locations to local audiences. I would encourage everyone to go along and enjoy!”
Full details and tickets are £20/£15 and available now from www.niopera.com