Naomi O’Connell

Hailed by The New York Times as a “radiant mezzo-soprano”, Irish singer Naomi O’Connell made her West End debut in London starring in Terrence McNally’s Tony Award-winning play Master Class opposite Tyne Daly in 2012. The Times hailed her performance as “…spectacular,” and The Independent lauded her “…thrilling rendering of an aria from Verdi’s Macbeth.” This season, Ms. O’Connell will play the role of Rosine in Stephen Wadsworth’s new adaptation of the Beaumarchais Figaro plays at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton. Later in the season, she will return to Garsington Opera as La Corilla in Offenbach’s Vert-Vert and make her debut with Frankfurt Oper in the title role of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea.

Notable past engagements include Despina in the 2012 MET+Juilliard production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, conducted by Alan Gilbert and directed by Stephen Wadsworth, New York City Opera’s new production of Offenbach’s La Périchole directed by Christopher Alden, and her professional operatic debut singing the title role in Offenbach’s La Périchole with Garsington Opera, where London critics hailed her as “a star in the making.”

A gifted musician and natural performer, Ms. O’Connell deftly balances her love of opera with that of art song, musical theatre and popular song with repertoire ranging from Schumann, Strauss and Ravel to Bernstein, Kurt Weill and Randy Newman. She has performed with the New York Festival of Song, Marlboro Music Festival, Five Boroughs Music Festival, Juilliard ChamberFest, the Juilliard FOCUS! Festival, and Steans Musical Institute at Ravinia. Ms. O’Connell made her Lincoln Center debut in the 2011 Juilliard Honors Recital at Alice Tully Hall with pianist Brent Funderburk, with whom she has performed in venues throughout the United States including the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Purdue University Convocations, the Artist Series of Tallahassee, Rockefeller University Concert Series and Merkin Concert Hall, New York. Recent recital appearances include her critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall as First Prize winner of the 2011 Concert Artists Guild competition, entitled ‘Witches, Bitches & Women in Britches’.

Notable past awards include the 2012 Leonard Ingrams Award from Garsington Opera, First Prize in the 2011 Concert Artists Guild and Caruso/Altamura International Voice Competitions, the Novick Career Advancement Grant and Makiko Narumi Award for Outstanding Mezzo-soprano from The Juilliard School, and First Prize in Operetta at the 2008 International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition.

Brought up in County Clare, Ireland, Ms. O’Connell began her vocal studies with Archie Simpson and holds a BA Honors degree from the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where she studied with singing teacher Mary Brennan. Ms. O’Connell holds a Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma in Opera Studies from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Marlena Malas and Dr. Robert White. Her recordings have been broadcasted on WQXR, BBC Three, Bayerischer Rundfunk, RTÉ Television, RTÉ Radio One and Lyric FM. Ms. O’Connell currently resides in New York City where she enjoys writing, yoga, telling terrible jokes and yearning after her neighbor’s dogs.