Tune in to see talented Offaly singer on TV screens tonight

TELEVISION viewers can tonight learn about a talented classical singer from Offaly who is about to undergo jaw surgery to improve her vocals.

Rachael Conaghan, a mezzo-soprano Edenderry, is featured in the first episode of Face the Music, a new series on exceptionally gifted students.

In the show, the Fourth Year B Music Vocal Performance student is due to audition for a part in the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) opera but she is also facing the surgery to fix a misalignment that is impacting her singing.

The question asked in Face the Music is - 'Will she recover in time, or will the surgery derail her ambitions?'

Face The Music is a three-part documentary series that follows the students (singer Rachael is pictured below) and teachers of RIAM during a pivotal year in its 175-year history.

It airs on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player from tonight Thursday, June 22 at 10.15pm.

The series follows Deborah Kelleher, director of the RIAM at the start of the new academic year, as she deals with significant delays to a €25 million building project due to the pandemic and the rising costs of building materials. Undeterred, as the leader of this internationally renowned institution, Deborah knows that that the show must go on.

Viewers will see some of the exceptionally gifted students and their teachers who dedicate their lives to pursuit of excellence in music. Deborah is striving to break down the ‘elitist’ barriers of classical music to make it accessible for everyone. However, this is still a world that strives for perfection and the demands on students are significant.

Along with RIAM student Rachael Conaghan, tonight's episode will introduce 17-year-old pianist Seán Shannon who is leaving home in Ennis, Co Clare for the first time to take a place in the academy’s third level programme.

Having taught himself to play on a toy piano as a child by watching YouTube videos, he's nervous about stepping into such a professional environment. Auditions also take place for third level students to determine their place in RIAM’s Philharmonia Orchestra.

In episode two, the students and teachers are halfway through the academic year and according to RTE, things are starting to get very real. The new building is still not open, but the show must go on, as internationally renowned Conductor Mihhail Gerts arrvies to lead the Philharmonia Orchestra at the RIAM.

In the series finale, the end of the academic year performances are looming, and the students must step up to the plate. Daire and Ríona are preparing for Feis Ceoil, while the third level vocal students get ready for their opera performance.