Join in the chorus: Meet the women helping to revive Cork Operatic Society
Opera organisers Louise O'Sullivan and Mary G O'Brien of the Cork Operatic Society. Picture: David Creedon
Cork’s rich tradition of opera is being revitalised with the Cork Operatic Society embarking on a new chapter that will see a semi-staged production of Monteverdi’s taking place at the MTU Cork School of Music in March 2026.
Widely regarded as the world’s first great opera, which is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, will be directed by Mary G O’Brien. O’Brien is a sister of the composer and opera director, John O’Brien. She teaches music at Ashton Secondary School.
Originally founded in 1918, the Cork Operatic Society has been active intermittently. It had a really prolific modern period from 2009 to 2019 with concerts taking place in churches and operas at the Cork Opera House. It took a couple of years for the society to get back on track after the pandemic.
Chairperson of Cork Operatic Society, Louise O’Sullivan says: “Last year, we decided to really get the reins going again. While there are many choruses in Cork and musical theatre, what differentiates us is that we’re an opera chorus. People are a bit frightened of opera, saying they can’t sing it. But if you can sing a line, you can sing opera. A chorus is only as strong as its members.
“Yes, there is some technique. We do vocal and drama workshops. You’ve to be able to move, to act and to sing. On top of that, there is the language. The piece we’re working on is in Italian. I will be doing the narration, instead of surtitles. There are twenty-seven singers in our production of , the grassroots of opera in Cork.”
Because will be a semi-staged production, it won’t be fully costumed or fully acted. As well as narration, there will be audio-visual elements.
“I’m a singer and actor myself. But I took a step back from singing because somebody needs to do the heavy-lifting.”
Opera companies have come and gone in Cork with the professional company, Opera 2005, folding in 2009 when its Arts Council funding was stopped. The Cork Operatic Society, which is a voluntary not-for-profit group, will be fund-raising in the run up to Christmas with carol singing in the foyers of Cork hotels.
It is applying for funding from Cork City arts office. There will also be a sponsorship drive with local businesses being targeted.
“We’re not applying for Arts Council funding this year because we want to make sure we have weighted evidence behind us regarding what we have done before. We’re starting local, building on grassroots.”
The Cork Operatic Society needs €15,000 to €20,000 for the production of and to keep it going.
“It’s completely achievable. For the last two years, we have done fantastic charity-based concerts for Maryborough Hospice and for Break Through Cancer Research. But we’re at a new stage now. It’s back to our core and recruiting new members, providing a platform for people coming up through the ranks. There is space for everybody in the Cork Operatic Society chorus. It’s an evolving society. Our vision is that in three year’s time, we’ll evolve to stage a full production at the Cork Opera House with a chorus of fifty to seventy.”
For , O’Brien says some chorus members are auditioning for the minor solo roles.
“We will have to ask for favours for the major roles because we don’t have the budget we need to be able to bring in fully professional singers.”
There was a time when during opera season in Cork, it wasn’t unusual for the docks and a number of factories to come to an unofficial standstill early in the afternoon as workers went to queue for tickets. Popular singers would be escorted in open student-drawn carriages to the Victoria Hotel, recalled a former chairperson of the Cork Opera House, Harold Johnson, writing in the 1978 spring brochure. The singers would perform from the hotel balcony to the crowds gathered on Patrick Street.
O’Brien and O’Sullivan are just as enthusiastic about opera.
“Every time we rehearse, we come out buzzing,” says O’Brien. “It’s just so amazing and the best thing you can do on a Saturday morning.”
O’Sullivan was always interested in music.
“There was classical music in the home all the time. My piano teacher told my mother that she should put me on the stage. She saw I had a voice and the piano wasn’t for me. I’m a mezzo soprano.”
Approaching fund-raising doesn’t faze O’Sullivan. Her day job involves writing applications for grants. She combines artistic talent with practical skills – essential for an opera company in need of funding.
- L’Orfeo will be performed at MTU Cork School of Music from March 20-22, 2026.
