Songs of Home and Heart

Soprano Rachel Croash and pianist Rebecca Warren present a captivating programme of songs exploring themes of home, memory, love and longing, featuring a selection of works by Barber, Korngold, Debussy and Irish composers, together with favourite melodies from the world of musical theatre.

Rachel Croash

Dublin Soprano Rachel Croash was a member of the inaugural Irish National Opera Studio and the Cork Opera House Cara O’Sullivan Associate Artists. Awards include the Wexford Festival Opera Aria Friends Award and the WFO & PwC Emerging Artist Bursary.

Operatic Roles include Mathilde (Nouvel Opéra Fribourg), Blanche; Norina and Avis (Glyndebourne Festival Opera – Covers), First Nymph; Rusalka (Cover); Mathilde; Marianne; Frasquita; Clorinda; Erste Dame; Kate Pinkerton; Mademoiselle Silberklang (Irish National Opera), Mimi; Fiordiligi; Susanna; Frasquita (Cork Opera House), Marzelline; Musetta; Mabel; Valencienne (Lyric Opera Productions), Elvira; Fiordiligi (Blackwatervalley Opera Festival), Ines; Serafina; Reneé; Dew Fairy; Annina (Wexford Festival Opera), Una; Susanna (Opera Theatre Company), and Mrs.Coyle (Opera Collective Ireland).

Oratorio performances include Verdi’s Requiem, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Brahm’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor with Limerick Choral Union, Fauré’s Requiem with The Kilkenny Choir, Stanford’s Stabat Mater at Cork City Hall, Händel’s Messiah at St. Muerdach’s Cathedral in Ballina, Vivaldi’s Gloria at Knock Basilica with the Palestrina Choir, Haydn’s The Creation, Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle with Culwick Choral Society, Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten with The Guinness Choir, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle with Maynooth University Choral Society, and Brahm’s Requiem and Elgar’s For The Fallen with the combined choirs of Christchurch Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.

Concert Highlights include performances with The Ulster Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, The RTÉ Concert Orchestra, City of Dublin Chamber Orchestra, West Wicklow Chamber Festival, Music in Great Irish Houses Festival, Music for Galway, The Contemporary Music Centre and The Metropolitan Club, New York.

Rachel had the privilege of singing at Áras an Uachtaráin for the former President of Ireland Michael D.Higgins and as guest soloist for the televised National Commemoration Day Service at Collins Barrracks. Rachel has appeared with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in RTÉ’s ‘Carols from Dublin Castle’ and ‘Christmas with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra

Rebecca Warren

Wexford native Rebecca Warren is an Irish répétiteur, collaborative pianist, Musical Director and choral conductor working across Ireland and the United Kingdom. She has worked with Buxton International Festival since 2023 and with Wexford Festival Opera since 2022, where she was Wexford Factory répétiteur in 2022-23 before continuing to work professionally with the company.

Her recent operatic work has included productions of La voix humaine, Trouble in Tahiti, Ernani, The Land of Might-Have-Been, Deidamia, Le maschere, La ciociara and Lalla Roukh. She has also been Musical Director of several productions, including Donizetti’s La fille du régiment, Ethel Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate and Bizet/Brook’s La Tragédie de Carmen. In 2026 she returns to Buxton International Festival as répétiteur and Chorus Master for Lehár’s The Merry Widow, and to Wexford Festival Opera as Musical Director for Balfe’s The Rose of Castile and répétiteur for Rossini’s L’equivoco stravagante.

Alongside her operatic work, Rebecca performs extensively in recital, coaching and ensemble settings with singers across a broad range of repertoire, with particular experience in French, Italian, German and English-language works. She maintains an active performance diary as a collaborative pianist throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom and regularly curates recital programmes and concert series in the South East of Ireland.

Rebecca was répétiteur with the inaugural Irish National Opera Studio and has since undertaken further work with Irish National Opera, including productions of Aida, Die Zauberflöte and Madama Butterfly. A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (MMus Répétiteurship), she was awarded the Arts Council of Ireland Next Generation Artist Award in 2020. Also a trained classical violinist, she also holds an MA (Hons) in Classical String Performance and has performed professionally with chamber and symphony orchestras across Ireland and internationally. Passionate about contemporary music, she works closely with Irish and Ireland-based composers to workshop and promote new repertoire.

Rebecca will be Artist-in-Residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris in January 2027.

Description supplied by the event organiser.