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The finals of the very first Newry Musical Feis Young Musician of the Year and Young Singer of the Year competitions take place tonight Monday 13 April at 6.30pm on stage in the beautiful Newry Town Hall, with performers from Canada, Hannover, Cardiff, Dublin and Newry all taking part.
All are welcome
Having such a selection of young 'top of their game' musicians from around the world performing in Newry doesn't happen too often, so be sure to get along, for what will be a unique evening.
The finals will see two very talented people take home the top prize of £2500 each as well as a paid performance engagement with Newry Chamber Music. Two second prizes of £500 are also up for grabs.
The competition is part of a number of new bursary schemes for Music, Ballet and Theatre Dance, and Speech and Organ categories, with a total of £10,000 awarded, all made possible by an anonymous donor.
Over thirty entrants were received in each section with 11 Young Singer entrants and 8 Young Musician entrants selected to compete in the preliminary round last night at Newry Town Hall.
The preliminary round singers were: Cliodhna Regan, Rosie Cameron, Ellen Fair, Maria Convery, Lauren McCann, Sophie Whelan, Conor Sands, Darragh Burns, James Connolly, Kathy Macauley and Aoife Downey. The musicians were: Dominic-Lucian Drutac, Luke Lally Maguire, Aoibhín Keogh Daly, Catherine Chang, Maria-Estella Fischer, Donglai Shi, Senan Sheridan and Alina Obreja.
Finalists
The Newry Musical Feis Young Singer of the Year finalists selected last night by Adjudicators Jonathan Rea and Andrew Nunn were: Darragh Burns from Newry, James Connolly from Dublin, Kathy Macaulay from Cardiff and Lauren McCann from Newry. The Young Musician of the Year finalists selected by Adjudicators Gillian McCutcheon, David Quigley and Nicholas Trygstad were: Maria-Estella Fischer from Hannover, Luke Lally Maguire from Dublin and Donglai Shi from Canada.
About the Finalists
Kathy Macaulay – Young Singer Finalist
Musician of the Year competition.
Kathy is a freelance soprano from Cardiff currently based in Cardiff and London. She received much critical acclaim for her professional operatic debut at Buxton International Festival as the lead role in Jonathan Dove’s The Enchanted Pig in 2021. Since then she has performed with Welsh National Opera covering the role of Lucy in Shostakovich’s Cherry Town, last she joined Waterperry Opera Festival’s The Barber of Seville as a Young Artist, and last summer she reprised the role of Doreen in the opera Gresford: Up From Underground by Jon Guy at the National Eisteddfod. She graduated from the University of Manchester as the recipient of the Proctor-Gregg Prize for best final-year recital and the Keith Elcombe Award for highest overall mark in Music.
In 2025 she embarked on British Youth Opera’s Serena Fenwick Young Artist programme and in September she began her studies for a Masters in Performance at the Royal Academy of Music. Kathy enjoys using the power of opera to tell relevant and contemporary stories and to advocate for the Welsh language and culture.
She is a trustee for the opera company Music Theatre Wales and consistently works in music outreach through choir leading and opera outreach projects such as Welsh National Opera’s Brave project in Caernarfon.
Performances
- Son Ri En Los Ojos - Joan Trimble
- Come Scoglio - Mozart
- Oh! Quand je dors - Liszt
- Art is Calling for me - Victor Herbert
Luke Lally Maguire - Piano - Young Musician Finalist
Luke is a Dublin based pianist and recent graduate of Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he recently completed the Artist Diploma Programme under the tutelage of Carole Presland, Charles Owen and Ronan O’Hora. He also holds a Masters in Performance from Guildhall, as well as a Bachelor of Music from TUDublin Conservatoire where he studied with Dr. Mary Lennon.
An experienced performer both in competitions and on the concert platform, Luke made his solo recital debut in the National Concert Hall, Dublin in January 2023. He has also performed in recitals throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom as well as Paris in the Centre Culturel Irlandais. In February 2023, Luke performed in Wigmore Hall as part of the Irish Heritage Music Bursary auditions where he was the recipient of the Music Bursary for Performance valued at £5000. Most recently, Luke won first prize in the 2024 Glass Sellers Beethoven Prize at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was also a semi-finalist in the Livorno International Piano Competition.
Luke himself has engaged in several piano masterclasses and lessons with Richard Goode, Paul Lewis, Finghin Collins, Christopher Elton, Barry Douglas, Vanessa Latarche, Leon McCawley, Hilary Coates and Therese Fahy among others.
Luke is generously supported by the Ireland Funds having been awarded a George Moore Scholarship for the period 2021-23. He is also grateful to receive funding from Help Musicians for the 2023/24 period.
Performances
- Berg – Sonata Op.1
- Gibson – Moladh go deo le Dia (Praise Always to God)
- Beethoven – Sonata No. 26 in E-Flat Major, Op. 81a ‘Les Adieux’3.
James Connolly - Young Singer Finalist
James is a 21 year old baritone from County Dublin. He has been studying singing with Emmanuel Lawler in the TUDublin Conservatoire since 2023, where he was recently awarded first prize in the Messiah Cup in the TUDublin competitions. In 2025, James made his Handel’s Messiah debut, performing as the bass soloist with the TU Dublin Choral Society in Brownlow House. His other oratorio performances are extensive, including singing the role of Pilatus in the Dublin Bach Singers’ performance of Bach’s St. John’s Passion, as well as performing with the Carlow Choral society as the bass soloist for their performance of Bach’s Magnificat.
He recently joined the chorus of Le Foyer des Artistes for their Winter Gala concert, performing choruses from Handel’s Alexander’s Feast and Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day. James recently made his operatic debut in the TUDublin Vocal Department’s production, Within These Walls: Four Operas. Four Conflict, where he sang the role of Guglielmo, from Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte.
He has also performed numerous sacred works by Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, Franck and Buxtehude, performing with the University of Dublin Choral Society, the TUDublin Choral Society, and the Palestrina Choir, of which he has been a member for over ten years.
Performances
- Sleep Now – Bernadette Marmion
- Les Papillons – Ernest Chausson
- Der Leiermann – Franz Schubert
- Deh vieni alla finestra – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- The Pibroch – Charles Villiers Stanford
- Chanson Triste – Henri Duparc
- Come Paride vezzoso – Gaetano Donizetti
Maria-Estella Fischer - Violin - Young Musician Finalist
Musician of the Year competition. Photograph: Columba O'Hare/ Newry.ie
Maria-Estella completed her Bachelor’s degree in 2023 at the University of Music, Drama and Media in Hannover, where she studied with Prof. Meike Bertram and Hans-Christian Euler. She continued her studies at the MTU Cork School of Music, graduating in 2025 with a Master’s degree in Music Performance with first class honours, under the guidance of Patrick Rafter.
She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, studying with Mia Cooper and Elaine Clark. Her musical education was further shaped through masterclasses with musicians including Maestro Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Prof. Michael Foyle (Royal Academy of Music London), Corina Belcea (Belcea Quartet) and Oliver Kipp (NDR-Radiophilharmonie).
Maria-Estella has performed with several orchestras including the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Irish National Opera, and the Irish Baroque Orchestra. Her achievements include multiple scholarships and awards, including several prizes at the German Music Competition “Jugend Musiziert” in both solo and chamber music categories. In 2023, she received the Faculty of Business and Humanities Postgraduate Scholarship from MTU. In 2025, she was awarded an Arts Office Bursary by MTU in recognition of her artistic work and future development. Her artistic interests focus on repertoire that encourages dialogue between performers, audiences, and historical contexts.
Performances
- Alfred Schnittke – Suite in the Old Style - Fugue
- Johannes Brahms – Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
- Nenad First – Something Wild
Lauren McCann - Young Singer Finalist
Newry Feis Young Musician of the Year.
Lauren is a member of Flynn Performing Arts under the tutelage of Fiona Flynn. Lauren gained a First-Class Honours in Music Performance from Queens University Belfast, a distinction in her Diploma in Music Teaching and Performance and completed her Masters in Music Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music Dublin with vocal tutelage from Lynda Lee and Dearbhla Collins.
As a soloist, Lauren has performed Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with the National Symphony Orchestra in the National Concert Hall. She has been successful in many feiseanna across Ireland winning competitions at the esteemed ESB Feis Ceoil and ‘Young Opera Voice’ at Navan Choral Festival. Lauren has performed in the Irish Embassy in Paris,
Leopoldskron Castle in Salzburg and the Royal Albert Hall as part of BBC Proms. In opera, Lauren has played the role of ‘Sirena’ in La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola di Alcina by Caccini. She recently played the role of ‘Cosette’ in theUK amateur première of Les Misérables in association with Cameron Mackintosh MTI at the Grand Opera House. She has performed with Sestina and is a member of Chamber Choir Ireland Studio, most recently performing Mozart’s Requiem in Berlin with Irish Chamber Orchestra.
Performances
- Les Filles des Cadix – Delibes
- Caro Nome from Rigoletto – Verdi
- The Stranger’s Grave – Harty
- At the Well – Hageman
- The Laughing Song from Die Fledermaus – J. Strauss
Donglai Shi - Piano - Young Musician Finalist
Donglai holds a Bachelor of Music from the Schulich School of Music of McGill University (Class of 2022). He studied with Prof. Kyoko Hashimoto in piano, Prof. Denys Bouliane in composition and Prof. Alexis Hauser in orchestral conducting. He has also completed the 2-year Artist Master’s program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Class of 2025) under the guidance of Prof. Carole Presland and Prof. Ronan O’Hora. He is now an Artist Diploma student in the same institution with the same teachers.
Donglai started learning the piano at the age four and half. He began studying with the Armenian pianist Gregory Chaverdian in October 2013 and became national finalist twice in the Canadian Music Competition (2014 and 2015).
He was finalist in the McGill Concerto Competition (October 2021) and was among the 30 national finalists in the Steppingstone edition of the 2022 Canadian Music Competition. Strongly interested in chamber music, he reached the final of the McGill Chamber Music Competition in 2019 and 2021, and the final of the Ivan Sutton chamber prize in 2024. He performed in the Bechstein Hall in February 2025. He was awarded 3rd prize in the 2025 London Liszt Society International Piano Competition.
Outside of piano, he notably received the reward of “Outstanding achievement in music composition” at his graduation from McGill University. He also initiated the Guildhall Conductors’ Orchestra and conducted in its two first public concerts in May and October 2024.
Performances
- Chen Qigang, “Instant of a Peking Opera”
- Beethoven, Piano Sonata in F minor Op.57 “Appassionata"
Darragh Burns - Young Singer Finalist
Darragh, aged 19, is from Newry and is currently training in musical theatre at Emil Dale Academy, an institution he proudly considers both his dream school and a major personal achievement. His passion for theatre began at the age of 14, when he discovered his love for performance at Flynn Performing Arts under the guidance of Fiona Flynn. Since then, he has achieved a number of notable milestones. He has completed up to diploma level in LCME Musical Theatre singing grades and, in 2023, received a NODA Award for Outstanding Performance across Ireland for his portrayal of Jamie New in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. His stage experience includes leading roles such as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar.
Darragh secured offers from four of London’s leading performing arts institutions—Urdang, ArtsEd, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and Emil Dale Academy - ultimately choosing Emil Dale as the next step in his training.
He continues to develop his craft with the ambition of pursuing a professional career in musical theatre and inspiring audiences through powerful, authentic performance.
Performances
- I Don’t Care Much from Cabaret – Kander/Ebb
- Out There from The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Schwartz/Menken
- Lonely House from Street Scene – Kurt Weill
- Ugly in This Ugly World from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Gillespie Sells/Macrae
- Gethsemane from Jesus Christ Superstar – Lloyd Webber/Ric
Tonights Adjudication Panel are: Gillian McCutcheon, Andrew Nunn, David Quigley, Jonathan Rea & Nicholas Trygstad.
