Kinvara soprano brings sacred songs to Galway series

KINVARA-based soprano, Maeve Cairney, will perform a series of concerts in Galway over the next five months.
In conjunction with renowned pianist, Morgan Cooke, the concerts will take place in different venues in the city at 8pm on one Sunday in every month from December through to April. Each concert will have a theme and special guest performer.
“I did a concert back in March called A Voice in Bloom, that was my first solo professional concert and lots of people came up to me afterwards to ask me when I was doing something similar again. I sing throughout the summer in Dunguaire so every winter, I like to have a project. I had a brainwave one night at about three in the morning, to do a concert series for one night each month. I decided to run the series to increase my own repertoire and to have the opportunity to perform and also I suppose to give audiences the opportunity to hear music they wanted to hear,” explained Maeve.
The first concert in the series, Gaudete, will be held in the Augustinian Priory, St Augustine Street, Galway at 8pm this Sunday. This will be a performance of sacred songs and arias with a little hint of Christmas. Maeve will sing classical pieces by Mozart, Bach and Bizet as well as some of the more traditional Christmas favourites. Along with Morgan Cooke, she will be joined on the night by special guests, the Galway Cathedral Choir conducted by Ray O’Donnell.
“This concert will be an uplifting experience for all, a welcome break from the usual hustle and bustle of December,” said Maeve.
On Sunday, January 15, Maeve will perform S’ullaria, a collection of favourite operatic arias and duets with guest soprano, Michel Durham-Brandt, at the Nun’s Island Theatre. In February, Maeve returns to the Augustinian Priory where she will perform Tony and Oscar, popular songs from stage and screen with special guest mezzo-soprano, Fiona Baldwin. In March, during Seachtain na nGaelige, Maeve will perform Eirinn agus Alba, a celebration of Irish and Scottish songs with special guest harpist Martina King. The season finale takes place back in the Augustinian Priory and will feature the highlights from the series.
“I have always wanted to do a sacred music concert and with the lead up to Christmas it just seemed like a good time to hear sacred music. The January concert is opera classics and then since the Oscars are usually held at the end of January, I have gone for a theme of songs from the stage and screen.  I decided to opt for different venues to see what they are like really. Aras na nGael came up through Morgan Cooke the accompanist, and that one is on during Seachtain na nGaelige and in the run-up to Saint Patrick’s Day so it is something that is working out really well. The reason for the Scottish influence in that is that my husband is from Scotland so I thought it would be nice to bring the two traditions together,” explained Maeve.
Maeve is an entertainer for Shannon Heritage in Dunguaire Castle, Kinvara and a regular contributor to the many music sessions in venues throughout Kinvara. She is currently a member of the Quay Singers and can be heard regularly in Galway Cathedral where she is a cantor. It is the purity of her voice that is commented on most often. She developed her vocal range having first studied at the Bel Canto School of Singing and then performing with Lyric Opera Chorus and the Cantabile Singers in Dublin. Maeve is now a student of Durham.