Tara Erraught is an international opera singer from Dundalk. She rose to stardom when she joined the Bavarian State Opera in 2008. She has performed all over the world and received countless awards.
Erraught graduated from the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin in 2008 and joined the opera studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. She immediately began to establish herself as a mezzo-soprano singer, and it was recognised that her voice was strong enough for her to become a star.
Rising Star award
“Tara Erraught is one of the most exciting musical talents to emerge out of Ireland for many years. She is still developing but promises to become one of opera’s major stars.” Irish Music Daily
Within a year of arriving in Germany, Erraught received numerous awards. She won First Prize in the Jakub Pustina International Singing Competition in the Czech Republic and the Zdar nad Sazavou audience Prize in May 2008. She also won both the Houston Grand Opera Prize and the Washington National Opera Prize at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna.
In 2010 she won the National Concert Hall’s Rising Star Award in Dublin as well as the Dermott Troy Award for the Best Irish Singer.
As part of the Bavarian State Opera, Erraught received international acclaim in the title role Ravels LEnfant et les Sortilèges. She also stepped in at just five days’ notice to replace a colleague in a production of Romeo.
Erraught toured North America in 2013 and received glowing praise from critics. The Kansas City Star stated that: “She’s only 26, but Tara Erraught already has a classic, surprisingly mature mezzo voice: it’s big, strong, dark and rich.” The Vancouver Sun added that audiences had heard ‘a rising star’.
‘Heartfelt rendition that brought goosebumps’
It was during this tour of North America that Erraught arguably delivered her most emphatic performance of her career. Don Dagenais of KC Metropolis reported: “She brought the house down singing Danny Boy. This piece is clearly in her wheelhouse, and she delivered a riveting, heartfelt rendition which brought goose bumps to the audience.”
Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who has accompanied Tara at concerts, described her as having fantastic talent. “Not only is she a most beautiful and pretty girl but she has a fantastic voice. She’s an amazing musician and what she has that is so important is the gift of charisma…an electricity, a communication, and she loves what she does. You can see the sun shining around her when she sings … her presence is fantastic.”
In the summer of 2013 Erraught became only the second singer, and fifth musician, to receive the Pro meritis scientiae et litterarum, a prestigious award granted by the Bavarian government, for her contribution to the arts.
Erraught lives in Munich and is working on her current repertoire with German mezzo-soprano Brigitta Fassbaender. She also travels back to Dublin to continue her studies with the acclaimed Royal Opera soprano Veronica Dunne.
Tara Erraught sings Romeo’s entrance aria
Tara Erraught
Singers main page
