Paula Murrihy

Irish Mezzo-Soprano Paula Murrihy is a native of County Kerry. She 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 Program and more recently was an apprentice at Santa Fe Opera and part of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program.

After being spotted at the Neue Stimmen Competition in 2009 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’etoile, Dorabella Cosi fan Tutte, Orontea and Octavian Der Rosenkavalier. This season she will sing Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, Polissena in Radamisto and joins the highly successful team behind Dido & Aeneas, Barrie Kosky and Constantinos Carydis, in her role debut as Carmen.

Paula maintains her close connection with the United States. She 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 The Ghosts of Versailles for Opera Theatre St Louis and Dido Dido and Aeneas 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 and as Ascanio in Terry Gilliam’s production of Benvenuto Cellini at English National Opera.

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 returning next season for concert performances of Semele, and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra where she premiered John Harbison’s Symphony No. 6. She recently appeared with the Nederlandse Programma Stichting in Handel’s Solomon, Alexander’s Feast and Honneger’s Judith, and with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in performances of Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

An accomplished recitalist Paula has performed at the Aldeburgh Festival and given a recital with the Irish Chamber Orchestra in the Shannon International Music Festival and the Chancellor’s Concert at the University of Limerick. She will give a recital with Malcolm Martineau in Frankfurt this autumn.

2015/16 features Paula’s debut at De Nationale Opera, Amsterdam and the Staatsoper Stuttgart as Octavian Der Rosenkavalier, and a return to Santa Fe Opera next summer for Ruggiero in Alcina. She will also sing Messiah with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, and St Matthew Passion with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra.