Carrickfergus woman hitting a high note in the world of classical music

Sarah Richmond is one of 40 out of 450 singers from 32 countries around the world to have been selected to sing at Weikersheim Castle in Germany this week when one of that cohort will win a massive 10,000 Euro.

She is the only singer selected to take part from the United Kingdom/Ireland.

Sarah, a single mum, has been concentrating on her singing over the past year as she recovered from a particularly bad dose of Covid and is delighted with the results.

A mezzo soprano, she is no stranger to success in the world of classical music.

She won the 2021 Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition and the 2022 New York NYIOP ANON Competition and is known for her emotional engagement, with Opera Magazine remarking: “Her voice was bright and clear, her acting wholly convincing”.

She has performed over the years with Wexford Festival Opera, Irish National Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, Random Opera, North West Opera and The Belfast Ensemble.

An advocate of contemporary music, Sarah has given world premieres including Lucrece in What happened to Lucrece at Wexford Festival Opera, however, she is equally at home on the concert platform and has performed at many recitals over the years.

She has featured regularly on Radio Ulster and has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, RTE Lyric FM and PBS and worldwide as a soloist for the Irish Rugby Football Union.

Sarah is now looking forward to Weikersheim Castle where she will compete in the prestigious Debut Contest alongside counterparts from the USA, South Korea, Russia, Belarus, China, Japan, France, Italy, Sweden, Iceland, Ukraine, Germany, Kazakhstan, Austria.

Sarah will perform with Doriana Tchakarova before a distinguished judging panel at the event which runs from September 18-25.

The final will be with Wurzberg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Looking forward to taking part, Sarah said: “I’m so happy to show my son that hard work and perserverance pay off.

“It’s an honour to have made it to this stage.

“Who knows, maybe I’ll scoop the €10k and we can go on a dream holiday”