Lixnaw Native Leanne Looks Forward To Performing In ‘Don Pasquale’ On Siamsa Stage

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Leanne Fitzgerald and Ben Escorio in Don Pasquale. Photo: Pat Redmond

A LIXNAW native says she’s looking forward to coming back to performing on the Siamsa stage on when the acclaimed ‘Don Pasquale’ comes to Tralee on February 11.

Mezzo-soprano Leanne Fitzgerald has her family to credit for her artistic upbringing. Having an Irish dancing master for a grandmother and a keen local theatre actor for a father, she grew up around creativity and was always the most enthusiastic singer in her primary school classes.

At the age of eleven, she took up the violin at the Kerry School of Music, and soon after began attending Tralee Stage School where she stayed for five years. At sixteen, she began singing lessons with Sharon Reidy in Abbeydorney which ignited her passion for opera.

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Leanne went on to complete a degree in Music Performance at the TU Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama, where she landed her first opera role in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld.

She made her professional debut soon after graduating, in Adams’ Nixon in China with Wide Open Opera in 2014, recalling the vast scale of the production as something which stood out to her.

After doing multiple productions with both Wide Open Opera and Opera Theatre Company (which later merged to become Irish National Opera), Leanne took a break from her opera career to join Chamber Choir Ireland, Ireland’s flagship choral ensemble with whom she sang for six years.

Ben McAteer, Leanne Fitzgerald, Graeme Danby and Kelli-Ann Masterson in Don Pasquale. Photo: Pat Redmond

Performing at home in Kerry is something Leanne has enjoyed throughout her life, calling it“an absolute joy”.

Knowing how keen Kerry audiences are in supporting the arts, she cites this reason for the recent growth of Irish audiences coming to Kerry to perform in the likes of Siamsa Tíre, St John’s Theatre Listowel, Dingle, Cahersiveen and Killarney.

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Leanne’s first experience performing in Siamsa Tíre was at the tender age of eleven, playing Aoife Flanagan in John B Keane’s The Field, alongside Mick Lally and Mary McEvoy.

Although she has enjoyed many performances in Siamsa Tíre with the Tralee Stage School, Tralee Musical Society and others, her performance in Irish National Opera’s Don Pasquale on Saturday 11 February will mark her professional opera debut, something she feels isincredibly special to mark in her home county.

“To have a milestone like this in my career at home is just amazing. I’m really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces in the audience!”

Leanne is confident that Kerry audiences will love Don Pasquale, which received a five star review from the Irish Times and enjoyed sold out performances in December.

“I think audiences were kind of surprised at how funny it was when they came to see it last year. Our director Orpha Phelan did such a wonderful job creating this little world of madness for us to live in!”

If you’re a first-time goer or a regular opera patron, she’s confident that there’s something for everyone in this timeless comedy.

“Leave any preconceived notions ofwhat an opera should look like at the door…this production breaks all the rules!”

Don’t miss Leanne in Irish National Opera production of Donizetti’s sparkling DonPasquale, coming to Siamsa Tíre on Saturday 11 February. Tickets available by clicking here.

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