Angela Feeney, Soprano, was born in Belfast and studied at the Belfast School of Music, with Veronica (Ronnie) Dunne at the DIT College of Music in Dublin. She made her debut as Cherubino in ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ with the Irish National Opera and as Magdalena in ‘Rigoletto’ with the Dublin Grand Opera Society. A multiple prize-winner throughout the Festivals in Ireland culminating in the prestigious DIT John McCormack two year scholarship award to continue her studies in Munich.
In this early period of study Angela travelled to Dublin every Saturday for her singing lesson with Ronnie Dunne at DIT. At this time she worked for HM Customs and Excise, Belfast, as a PA. She later resigned to become a full time Student at the DIT.
Her first TV appearance’s with RTÉ ‘Coleman Pearce Presents’ and the Frank Patterson Shows. With BBC ‘Twilight Rhapsody’, and ‘Songs of Praise’ with Harry Secombe’. A frequent guest on Jane Carty’s young musician series for RTE radio. She holds a GAA (Antrim, St Pauls), Ulster & All Ireland Scor medal for solo singing the final held in the Olympia Theatre Dublin.
She continued her studies – voice/piano – with Canadian Tenor Kenneth Neate – at the Richard-Strauss-Conservatoire in Munich where she received a 1st class honor’s degree (through German). Angela was then engaged by the Munich State Opera, the first Soprano from Ireland to do so, working with such renowned Conductors as Wolfgang Sawallisch, Carlos Kleiber, Giuseppe Patane, making guest appearances with the Bamberger Symphoniker, The Munich Philharmonie, the Hamburg and Frankfurt State Opera companies. Role’s include, Fiordiligi in ‘Cosi fan Tutte’, Countess in ‘The Marriage of Figaro’, Gretel in ‘Hansel and Gretel’, and Eurydice in ‘Orfeo ed Eurydice’. TV series, ‘Erkennen sie die Melodien’ for ZDF’, a fluent German speaker, presenting her own slot on the latter.
Since leaving her native Belfast, Angela rapidly forged an exciting international career, making her debut with the English National Opera at the London Coliseum as Donna Elvira in ‘Don Giovanni’.
She appeared at the Wexford Festival in the highly acclaimed ‘Un Giorno di Regno’ by Verdi as Guillietta, recorded live for BBC Radio 3, opened Cork City Opera’s inaugural season as Leonora in ‘Il Trovatore’ Verdi, televised live by RTE and returned to Cork the following year in ‘La Boheme’ as Mimi, her first Puccini success, Madam Butterfly, her debut for Opera Northern Ireland, was another outstanding success, which she later repeated at the Berlin State Opera.
She has since sung Marie in the Bartered Bride, Michaela in ‘Carmen’ and Nedda in ‘I Pagliacci’ with English National Opera, and at the London Arts Festival.
She is the only singer representing Northern Ireland, to reach the finals of the live televised BBC Cardiff Singer of the World resulting in a television series with BBC Wales. As a recitalist she has performed in Ireland, Britain, Belgium, France, Germany and America.
Angela was invited to perform at the ‘The West-End salutes Leonard Bernstein’ concert at the Barbican Theatre, London, singing the role of Maria in ‘West Side Story’, working with the composer.
She returned to Ireland to sing Eurydice in Gluck’s ‘Orfeo’, and later Adalgisa in Bellini’s ‘Norma’ both with Opera Ireland at the Gaiety and National Concert Hall, recorded live for RTE radio. Opera recordings include Peer Gynt by Werner Egk (Orfeo), Tiefland by d’Albert (RCA) and Rossini’s Stabat Mater.
She is the Artistic Director of the Belfast Classical Music Bursaries, initiated by her in 1994, awarding to date £350,000 in financial help to instrumentalist’s and singers throughout Ireland and is founder of The Lagan Ensemble. Initiator and sponsor of the ‘Peter and the Wolf’ a 3 year project with the Ulster Orchestra in which 6,000 primary school pupils participated at these events.
Angela was Deputy Director of the John Hewitt International Summer School Armagh for 10 years. She was awarded the judge’s special award at the Belfast City Council 2002 Arts Awards for her outstanding contribution to the Arts in Belfast and further afield. One of 100 celebrated citizens to have her photograph included to celebrate the centenary of Belfast 2006 in the ‘No Mean City’ exhibition which is on permanent view in Belfast City Hall.
In July 2006 she received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Queen’s University, Belfast for her promotion of Ireland in the Classical World of Music and her unending commitment to the young classical Musician’s throughout Ireland.
From 2003-2017 Angela was Senior Tutor of Voice/stage skills and Chamber Music at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Angela was one of a panel of four to judge the inaugural RTÉ ‘All Ireland School Choir Competition’ 2009, the final of which was televised live from the Ulster Hall. In its seven years, it is one of RTÉ’s most successful programmes streamed live the last three years from Titanic Belfast.
In 2019 she was elected Chair of Munich Irish Network MIN which organizes the largest St Patrick’s Day Parade in Europe, outside of Dublin and the second-largest in Bavaria after the Oktoberfest in Munich.
She was appointed a Board Member of the German Irish Council in 2019 which aims to promote a ‘deeper and wider footprint between Germany and Ireland’.
