Tenor Owen Lucas wins NI Opera's 12th Glenarm Festival of Voice

County Tyrone tenor Owen Lucas, winner of the Deborah Voigt Opera Prize (Photo Declan Roughan)

Northern Ireland Opera's Glenarm Festival of Voice took place in Glenarm last weekend, after having relocated to Belfast for the last two years because of the pandemic. On Sunday evening, five opera singers chosen from applicants from across the island of Ireland competed for the Deborah Voigt Opera Prize and to become the NI Opera Young Opera Voice of 2022. The singers spent three days working with top opera coaches Kathryn Harries, Dr Ingrid Surgenor and pianist Simon Lepper.

The winner of the Deborah Voigt Opera Prize and the NI Opera Young Opera Voice of 2022 is County Tyrone tenor Owen Lucas, who was also voted the winner of the Audience Prize, sponsored by The Londonderry Arms, Carnlough. Lucas sang 'E lucevan le stelle' from Puccini's Tosca, and Michael Head's Nocturne, and his ensemble piece was ‘The Midnight Quartet’ from Von Flotow's Martha with David Kennedy, Heather Sammon and Hannah O’Brien.

The winner of the Song Prize, sponsored by The Priests Charitable Trust, is County Louth soprano Hannah O’Brien for her performance of James Joyce’s Bid Adieu for which, unusually James Joyce wrote both the words and the music.

Full details from the Northern Ireland Opera website.