Louise has plenty to sing about

SOPRANO Talented singer takes gold medal

A music student from Butlersbridge has won the top prize at the RDS Feis Ceoil Music Festival in Dublin.

Louise Florence took the Gold Medal and the Music Lovers Cup in the prestigious Soprano Solo competition on Thursday, March 25.

The daughter of Alec and Mary Florence, Louise received the highest result of all voice groups with a score of 90% and emerged an impressive winner of the RDS Feis Ceoil Soprano Solo 2021.

Check out her mesmerising performance here:

Also a popular wedding singer, Louise is in her final year of the Bachelor of Vocal Performance degree at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin. She is studying with Dr Imelda Drumm and has two coaches, Andrew Synnott and Deirdre Collins.

Enthusing about this prestigious win, the songstress said: "It is a great boost and encouragement – I am just delighted."

It is Louise's ultimate ambition to become an opera singer. "This win will open a lot of doors for me now and get my name out there. I have been working towards this for a number of years," she said.

The competitors were given a demanding set piece of music ‘Still the Lark Finds Repose by Thomas Linley’ and a piano track with a fixed key and tempo.

"Adjudicator, international soprano, Amanda Roocroft, made her decision based on the singer's ability to negotiate the complex music with musical accuracy and vocal proficiency," explained Louise.

"She commended the singer with superior ability to connect to the difficult piece and to ultimately engage the audience emotionally."