Limerick girl wins top musical bursary

A Limerick singer was awarded a €10,000 music prize today which will allow her to travel to London to study with a world-renowned vocal coach.

The operatic singer, Mairéad Buicke, said the generous bursary presented by RDS president, Michael Jacob, will enable her to develop her career by training in the UK’s National Opera Studio in September.

The five-person judging panel voted unanimously to award the 23-year-old the prestigious prize and said the all-round standard was very high.

Ms Buicke is currently studying for a Performance Degree in the Royal Irish Academy of Music at Dublin City University and hopes to establish a career as an operatic and concert artist.

The singer has won many prizes including the Belfast Classical Music Bursary last April.

The RDS music fund is awarded to help an Irish musician concentrate on their professional career.

It is open to the winners of any senior competitions held at the Feis Ceoil and the first stage is a written application, followed by an interview with the judging panel.

The fund was awarded for the first time last year to Redmond O’Toole who plays the cello guitar.

He travelled to Brazil to study with Grammy award winner Paul Galbraith who offered him free tuition.