Veronica Dunne (soprano)

Veronica Dunne (born 2 August 1927), also known as Ronnie Dunne, is an Irish opera singer (soprano) and singing teacher who has been described as "an Irish national treasure".[1]

Following initial studies in Dublin with Hubert Rooney, she went to Rome in 1946 to study with Soldini Calcagni and Francesco Calcatelli. She made her operatic debut in Dublin in 1948 as Micaëla in Carmen, also appearing in 1949 as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust. She won the Concorso Lirico Milano in 1952, which brought her the role of Mimì in Leoncavallo's La bohème at the Teatro Nuovo, Milan, which in turn brought her a contract from Covent Garden, London. She has also sung with Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, and Wexford Festival Opera.[2]

Dunne has given a number of premieres of works by contemporary Irish composers including Never to Have Lived is Best (1965) by Seóirse Bodley as well as Irish Songs (1971) and The Táin (1972) by James Wilson.

In 1962, she was appointed a vocal teacher at the then Dublin College of Music (today Technical University Conservatory of Music and Drama), retiring in 1992, continuing to teach at the Leinster School of Music and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Veronica Dunne's students included Patricia Bardon, Tara Erraught, Lynda Lee, Colette McGahon, Suzanne Murphy, and Finbar Wright, who have all sung in the major opera houses of the world.

In 2014, aged 87, she continued to teach 39 hours a week.[3]

The triennial Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, organised by the Friends of the Vocal Arts in Ireland, awards bursaries in her name.[4]

References
  1. "Veronica Dunne". Royal Irish Academy of Music. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  2. Aisling Kenny: "Dunne, Veronica", in: The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, ed. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), p. 337.
  3. Boland, Rosita (13 September 2014). "Veronica Dunne: still working at 87 in an 'ageist' Ireland". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  4. "About the Competition". Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition. Retrieved 8 May 2019.

Further reading
  • Maxwell, Alison (2016). Ronnie: The Authorised Biography of Veronica Dunne. Ashfield Press. ISBN 978-1901658972.
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