Delvin singer shines at Blackwater Valley Opera Festival

Anna-Helena Maclachlan, a 22-year-old mezzo-soprano from Delvin, captivated audiences with her recent performance at Tourin House, County Waterford, as part of Blackwater Valley Opera Festival.

Anna-Helena is one of two recipients of the 2024 Blackwater Valley Opera Festival Bursary, which supports exceptional talent.

She recently graduated with a first-class honours from the BMus Vocal Performance degree at Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM).

During Anna-Helena studies, she was mentored by Mary Brennan and Grainne Dunne, after previously working with Dearbhla Collins.

In the second year of her degree, she was the winner of the Irene Sandford Award. In the same year, she was awarded one of the top bursary prizes of the Veronica Dunne Bursary for Young Irish Singers.

Anna-Helena was awarded first place in the Young Opera Voice competition at Navan Choral Festival in May, and the Audience Prize at the Northern Ireland Opera Glenarm Festival of Voice, an annual event in the coastal village of Glenarm, County Antrim.

Anna-Helena’s opera roles include Cold Genius in RIAM’s production of Purcell’s King Arthur, Victorian 2 in OCI’s staging of Will Todd’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with the Saluzzo Opera Academy, and Melissa in RIAM’s production of Francesca Caccini’s ‘La Liberazione di Ruggiero’.

Anna-Helena’s oratorio repertoire features alto solos in Vivaldi’s Gloria and Handel’s Messiah.

She has also performed with Diva Voces, singing the baritone solo in their all-female rendition of Fauré’s Requiem.

Most recently, Anna-Helena was the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Mass in C with the St Cecilia Singers, and in Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo with the Bray Choral Society.