Deborah Cunningham – manager and principal Soprano
Deborah has always been a singer, having started her training as a child in Manchester, where she had the opportunity of singing in several school projects with the BBC. She resumed her studies as an adult, under the direction of renowned tutor, Andrew Batchelor, and in 2008 was awarded a Recital Diploma with distinction, from Trinity College London.
She had the original idea for Songs for a Summer Evening as a way of introducing Opera to a wider North West audience in a relaxed atmosphere and has developed this into what has now become known as The Mountcharles Opera Festival.
She sings with The Donegal Abbey Singers as well as The Bluestack Chorale which she founded in 2011. She has sung the role of Prince Orlofsky in North West Opera’s 2016 production of Die Fledermaus. Deborah formed the highly respected Donegal Voices in 2012 with whom she has sung soprano solo in their performances of Beethoven’s Mass in C; Bach’s Magnifcat; Vivaldi’s Gloria; Handel’s Coronation Anthems and Mozart’s Requiem which she also performed with The City of Derry Festival Chorus.
Paul Martin – musical director and principal Baritone
Brought up in Donegal Town, Paul is well known in music circles throughout Donegal. He is principal baritone at The Mountcharles Opera Festival and is musical director of The Bluestack Chorale. He currently conducts the choir of St.Agatha’s Church, Clar. He has performed a variety of roles with North West Opera and is an integral part of the recent phenomenon, The Schubert Sessions. He has sung with the Donegal Abbey Singers, Bel Canto, Ballyshannon and the Belfast Chorale, with whom he sang in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall and NCH, Dublin. Paul has performed in various locations at home and in the UK with the Donegal Tenors.
Evan Garrigle – arranger and accompanist
Evan McGarrigle is highly regarded as a pianist, repetiteur, vocal coach, choral conductor, arranger and music pedagogue in the North-West. He gained his deep passion for music, not least piano, during his childhood studies with Noreen Thomas in his native Donegal Town. His early musicianship training also included the guidance of Mrs. Eileen Carr in the Abbey Vocational School and he was a member of the Clarinet section of the Donegal Youth Orchestra for many years under the Baton of Mr. Jim Rafferty.
Evan holds an honours Bachelor in Music Education from Trinity College Dublin as well as many other certificates and diplomas. He is a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music where he was mentored by Prof. Réamonn Keary from age 14. A frequent prizewinning pianist around the country since his youth, he has often been praised for his rare talent to communicate from the stage.
Evan’s eclectic solo performances have taken him to many of Ireland’s most acclaimed venues including the National Concert Hall and the National Gallery in Dublin, Cork’s Curtis Auditorium, the Galway Town Hall, the Model Sligo, and he has been well received in concert in the U.K. and U.S.A.
It is, however, as a collaborative musician that Evan’s musical joy lies. He was a founder member of many groups including Voce Dolce Music, Node Ensemble Dublin and the Be Natural Acapella Singers. He has accompanied (and occasionally directed) the prestigious Bluestack Chorale since their formation in 2011 and likewise the outstanding Donegal Youth Choir (founded in 2010). Evan has been on stage with artists in many genres such as conductors James Cavanagh and Vincent Kennedy, singers Dolores Keane and Daniel O’Donnell, Flautist Amy Gillen, the Donegal Chamber Orchestra and composer Elaine Agnew, comedian John Nee, and has also played keyboards and synthesisers for shows and musicals across the North-West. Most frequently, he can be seen on stage with Soprano, Deborah Cunningham and Baritone, Paul Martin – soloists for the Mountcharles Opera Festival.
Evan enjoys a flourishing studio of pupils in his full time work as a teacher and musical director. He works with the Donegal Music Education Partnership around the County and is a regular tutor at the Donegal Summer School of Music each July. The Evan McGarrigle School of Music (Scoil Cheoil Eabhan Mhic Oirghiolla) in Carrick, Co. Donegal was founded in 2010 and many of his students have enjoyed exceptional success. Some of his past pupils have been broadcast on national radio and televsion in Ireland and the UK and many have forged successful careers as full-time professional musicans. He is currently undertaking an ambitious project to create and self-publish a serious of twelve bilingual lesson books (beginner to advanced level) in piano.
The Bluestack Chorale
This prestigious chorus was formed in 2011 specifically to perform at what was then known as Songs for a Summer Evening. It is made up of some of the finest singers in South Donegal, all of whom were hand-picked for their ability and skill – the depth of their ever-growing repertoire is testament to that ability. Their first performance was of Gabriel Faure’s much-loved Requiem and has been followed in the intervening years by a wide variety of musical genres and includes works as diverse as Purcell’s Dido and Aenaes, The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night, Barber’s Agnus Dei, Boublil’s Bring Him Home and a vast array of ensemble pieces from operas including Rigoletto, Marriage of Figaro, Tosca, Carmen, among very many others. In 2015, they commissioned Evan McGarrigle to write a four-part arrangement of Mary from Dungloe. This favourite Donegal song has now become one of the core pieces of their repertoire, and indeed is in much demand itself as a performance piece for other choirs.
The Bluestack Chorale has been privileged to receive invitations to perform throughout the county; most notably in 2013 when they were invited to perform Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to St Columba at The Glebe Gallery’s retrospective of the work of artist Derek Hill. This piece was a 1962 commission from Derek Hill to the composer, in appreciation of his home in Garten, Co. Donegal. The Bluestack Chorale was the first choir to perform this challenging work in Donegal.
Mountcharles Opera Festival 