Today we are delighted to bring you the final concert before Christmas in our film series “The ICC Seisiúns” and it’s a wonderful, seasonal gift – the glorious and sensational award-winning opera singer Carolyn Holt, accompanied by the pianist Paul McKenzie. So why not get dressed up for the Opera, pour yourselves a glass of bubbly and sit back and enjoy Carolyn’s astounding performance!
Born in County Kildare, Carolyn, a mezzo-soprano, has been singing since the age of 15. She studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and also at London’s Royal Academy of Music and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Carolyn made her debut with the Irish National Opera in 2018, singing The Voice (Mother) in Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffman, for which she again received amazing critical acclaim. She recently attained huge acclaim when she sang the lead role of Sister Helen Prejean in the UK staged premiere of Dead Man Walking in Glasgow. She also recently reached the final rounds of the 2021 Tenor Viñas Contest, which is one of the major competitions in the opera world and she will perform in the finals in Barcelona in January 2021.
Carolyn also performs contemporary music and she frequently sings as a lead soloist for International orchestras and choral societies.
Throughout her career she has won many awards, among them the ‘Audience Prize in Northern Ireland Opera Festival of Voice’, ‘the Trench Award and Bursary’, the ‘Geraldine McGee Bursary’ , ‘John McCormack Bursary’, the ‘Mahler Prize’ and she was also awarded the ‘Inaugral Irish Heritage Bursary’ in 2015.
The ICC would like to thank Patrick Lennon and ‘Irish Heritage’ for arranging Carolyn Holt’s appearance in the film series “The ICC Seisiúns”Irish Heritage is an Irish performing arts organisation in Britain dedicated to helping the crème de la crème of young Irish musicians and composers in the early part of their careers.
