Paula Murrihy

Paula Murrihy is an Irish operatic mezzo-soprano who has made an international career. A member of the Frankfurt Opera, she has appeared also in Europe and the US, including the Metropolitan Opera and the Santa Fe Opera

Born in County Kerry, Murrihy first studied at the Dublin Institute of Technology Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin, graduating with a Bachelor in Music. She studied further at the New England Conservatory. She took part in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme and the opera studio of the Santa Fe Opera. She also studied on a scholarship of the San Francisco Opera in the Merola Opera Program. She participated in Tanglewood in the 2003 Vocal Fellowship Program, appearing in the premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's opera Ainadamar, which she then also performed at Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Murrihy joined the ensemble of the Frankfurt Opera in 2009, where she performed the title roles of Bizet's Carmen and Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. Other roles there have included Polissena in Handel's Radamisto, the Second Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Blanche in Prokofiev's Der Spieler. Title roles have included Purcell's Dido, Antonio Cesti's L'Orontea, Humperdinck's Hänsel, and Honegger's Judith. She performed the role of Kreusa in the German premiere of Aribert Reimann's Medea in 2010, alongside Claudia Barainsky in the title role, recorded live.