Rachael Conaghan

Rachael is an Irish mezzo-soprano currently based in Glasgow. She began her formal musical training at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin,  graduating with First Class Honours in Vocal Performance. During her studies there, she worked with Dr Imelda Drumm, Dr Dearbhla Collins, and the late Gráinne Dunne. She is presently continuing her training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she is in the second year of her Master’s degree under the tutelage of Wilma MacDougall and Claire Haslin.

Rachael most recently performed as a guest artist with the Dublin Orchestra Players in their Christmas concert. She made her German debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Lyric Opera Studio Weimar. Her operatic roles also include Brigid O’Mullane in the world premiere of Stephen McNeff’s Spirits Unsurrendered; La Zelatrice in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with Saluzzo Opera Academy; Yolanda in Elizabeth Maconchy’s The Sofa at the Royal Irish Academy of Music; and Plantae Incantatae in Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero.

She has been awarded First Prize in both the Mezzo-Soprano Competition (2021) and the Contralto Competition (2022) at Dublin’s Feis Ceoil, in addition to receiving the Irene Sandford Award for Best English Art Song. She has also appeared in concert with the Bohemians Society of Dublin. Alongside her performance career, Rachael serves as a cantor with the choir of Mullingar Cathedral.

In the 2026 season, she will return to Weimar to perform the roles of Prince Orlovsky in Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus and Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. She is very excited to participate in Dunedin Consort’s “Bridging the Gap” scheme and join the ensemble on tour during the same year.