NI Opera Studio

Margaret Bridge (mezzo-soprano)

Mezzo-soprano Margaret Bridge trained at the Royal Irish Academy of Music before completing further graduate studies at the New England Conservatory, Boston. Operatic roles include Melanto (The Return of Ulysses, Opera Collective Ireland), Prince Charmant (Cendrillon, New England Conservatory) and the title role in Agrippina for New England Conservatory. She is a former member of the Young Artist programs at Chautauqua Opera, USA, and Opera Theatre Company, Dublin. On the concert stage she has appeared with  the Goethe Institut Choir in Dublin, the Ulster Orchestra and the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir. Margaret Bridge holds a BA in Musicology and Theory from Trinity College Dublin. In September, she was named NI Opera’s Deborah Voigt Voice of 2018 at the Festival of Voice in Glenarm, Co. Antrim.

Francesco Giusti (counter-tenor)

Born in Bologna, counter-tenor Francesco Giusti studied the pianoforte, organ and composition at the Bologna and Ferrara Conservatoires, as well as musicology at Bologna University. He subsequently completed a degree in vocal performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Andrew Watts, and undertook further studies at the Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater in Leipzig with Gundula Andrers in historical singing, and at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam with Xenia Meijer and Maarten Konigsberger. During his time in Germany, he performed the leading role in a touring production of Mario Fuggitivo by Bononcini/Telemann.

As a concert soloist, Francesco Giusti regularly performs in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, particularly with the Domcantorij choir in Utrecht. In 2017, he performed in a stage production of Buxtehude’s cantata cycle Membra Jesu Nostri in Hamburg. In the same year he moved to Dublin, where he is a Lay Vicar Choral at Christ Church Cathedral.

Jessica Hackett (soprano)

Jessica Hackett is a 22-year old lyric soprano from County Meath. A graduate from Maynooth University, she is currently continuing her performance studies at the Conservatory of Music and Drama at DIT, where she is working with Colette McGahon-Tosh. Jessica’s operatic engagements include the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon (North Dublin Opera) and Fanny in Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio (NI Opera Studio). She has performed extracts as The Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Arsamenes in Serse and Frasquita in Carmen. She is also an avid performer of operetta and musical theatre, where her credits include the roles of Mabel in Pirates of Penzance and Joanna in Sweeney Todd among others.

Kelli-Ann Masterson (soprano)

Wexford-born soprano Kelli-Ann Masterson completed a BMus degree at Trinity College Dublin, and a MMus at DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. During her studies she sang the role of Daniel in a staging of Handel’s oratorio Susanna, as well as covering the role of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. She regularly performs with Opera in the Open, where notable roles included L’Amour in Gluck’s Orphée ed Eurydice, Adele in Strauss’ Fledermaus and most recently Janthe in Marschner’s Der Vampyr. In 2017, she performed with the National Gilbert & Sullivan UK Opera Company in 2017. In 2018, Kelli-Ann Masterson sung the role of Despina in Così fan tutte with Clyde Opera Group in Glasgow. She also performed with the Lyric Opera Studio in Weimar, where she sung the roles of Papagena and Zweiter Knabe in Die Zauberflöte.

Elaine McDaid (soprano)

Derry native Elaine McDaid is a graduate from DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, where she completed her Masters in Music Performance in 2015. She also holds a BA in Laws from Trinity College, Dublin. Elaine is currently studying with Kathryn Harries in the UK. Elaine sang the role of Musetta in Barefoot Opera’s UK tour of La Bohème in autumn 2017 under the direction of Jenny Miller. Other operatic roles include Pamina (Die Zauberflöte, North Dublin Opera Company), Margherite (Méphistophele, DIT Opera Ensemble), and Venere (L’incoronazione di Poppea, DIT Opera Ensemble). On the concert platform, she has performed with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra.

Rebecca Murphy (soprano)

Northern Irish soprano Rebecca Murphy holds a BMus from Queen’s University Belfast and recently completed her Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, under the tutelage of Wilma MacDougall.

Rebecca’s operatic roles include Rose Maurrant in Street scene, Soprano 1 in Le vin herbé, Dido in Dido and Aeneas among others. Upcoming performances include a newly commissioned opera entitled Waking beauty by Sean Doherty, in which Rebecca Murphy will be creating the role of Princess Talia. She has appeared in several opera scenes at RCS, including as Vixen in The cunning little vixen, Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. Her chorus work includes Prokofiev’s The fiery angel (Scottish Opera) and Handel’s oratorio Theodora (Sestina/Irish Baroque Orchestra).

As a concert soloist, her repertoire include Bach’s Cantata BWV 199, Brahms’ Requiem, Bach’s Magnificat, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Stanford’s Requiem, Mozart’s Vespers, and Handel’s Dixit Dominus.