Ms Edel O'Brien, a 30-year-old mezzo-soprano from Kilrush, Co Clare, last night received the Prix Lyrique from a group of wealthy patrons of the Paris Opera, the Association pour le Rayonnement de l'Opéra National de Paris.
The prize is awarded annually to one male and one female student at the Centre de Formation Lyrique, the training school for the Paris Opera where Ms O'Brien has studied for the past year.
She and Mr Guillaume Antoine, a French bass, were elected by the association's 2,200 members for their solo performances throughout the past season. The prize carries a €5,000 cash award and sets Ms O'Brien well on her way to becoming an internationally renowned opera singer.
Ms O'Brien, a farmer's daughter, studied at NUI Maynooth, then won scholarships to the Milan Conservatory and Trinity College of Music in London. She won Trinity College's overall gold medal in 2000.
Ms O'Brien's mother Eileen travelled from Kilrush to attend her solo concert at the Irish Cultural Centre on Sunday night, and last night's ceremony at the Bastille Opera, which was attended by 400 people.
After receiving their awards, Ms O'Brien and Mr Antoine performed a thank you concert, with the high point being their duet of Mozart's La ci darem la mano. Ms O'Brien sang three Mozart arias, two of which she had sung the previous evening in the chapel of the Irish College.
