Margaret Keys is an Irish classical soprano.

Biography

Keys was a primary school teacher for four years before taking a career break and entering the music industry. At the age of 15, Keys was awarded the

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

London Medal for the best overall singer in her music examinations. She has a master's degree in Singing and Performance from the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

. She has performed in Ireland and the United Kingdom, North America and Australia. She has also participated in musical theater productions (including

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

) and vocal workshops. Being the recipient of the New York Artist Award and the BBC Fame Academy Bursary, Keys has worked with acclaimed stars, producers and directors from Broadway, including Sir

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

. Her musical theater repertoire includes, amongst others, ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'', ''

Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title character of the novel and its adaptations Theatre * ''Phantom of t ...

'', ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'', ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'', ''

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

'' and ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

''. Keys performed for an audience of 35,000 at Rotorua Lakeside Concert. Her later performance at the National Concert Hall in Dublin was viewed favourable by the critics and resulted in the signing by

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. Keys released her first studio album, ''Legato'', which debuted at number 14. She has performed in the Royal Albert Hall and has toured with

Alfie Boe Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe (born 29 September 1973) is an English actor and singer who performs primarily in musical theatre. Boe is best known for his performances as Jean Valjean in the musical ''Les Misérables'' at the Queen's Theatre ...

Russell Watson Russell Watson (born 24 November 1966) is an English crossover/popular singer, almost in the tenor range, who has released singles and albums of both quasi-operatic-style and pop songs. He began singing as a child, and became known after per ...

Paul Potts Paul Potts (born 13 October 1970) is a British tenor. In 2007, he won the first series of ITV's ''Britain's Got Talent'' with his performance of " Nessun dorma", an aria from Puccini's opera ''Turandot''. As a singer of operatic pop music, P ...

, the Welsh Fron Male Voice Choir and performed in West End theatres. She performed during Pope Francis' first state visit to America in September 2015 and also for his private reception at Mansion House, Dublin. Keys made her debut at Carnegie Hall, New York, in December 2016 and Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 2017. Margaret released her highly anticipated album "The Gift of Music" in June 2018. It soared straight to the top of the Official Classical and Classicfm charts, as the highest new entry, beating off competition from some of the world's most famous classical stars. She was also the first ever female performer from Ireland to ever enter the Official Classical Charts. Following this success she was invited to perform for The Royal Christmas Carol Concert at St James' palace for members of the royal family and 300 special guests.

Philanthropy

She founded MKeys Productions where she produces and directs children's productions for charity. Keys is also an ambassador for the HRH Prince of Wales Foundation for Children and Arts.

References

External links

Interview with Derry Journal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keys, Margaret Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Irish women opera singers Living people Opera crossover singers 20th-century Irish women opera singers