Dublin singer prepares for a Christmas hit

A DUBLIN singer is preparing to release her second solo album in time for Christmas.

Sandra Oman’s second solo album, ‘Noël’ will be released on November 15 to follow her debut album, ‘Liberty’.

It will be launched at a concert in the National Concert Hall on the night which will feature some very special high-profile Irish guests.

International soprano Sandra hails from Dublin’s The Liberties and is considered one of local area’s most well-loved artists.

Sandra’s debut album went to number one in the iTunes Vocal Download Charts and, most unusually for a classical artist, it went to number four in the Top Album charts, with Adele, One Direction and Justin Bieber just ahead of her.

Her launch for ‘Liberty’ was a complete sell-out at the National Concert Hall and she repeated this concert to equally sold out audiences at Castletown House and around Ireland.

Sandra is one of Ireland’s most highly regarded sopranos, with a very successful operatic and con-cert career both nationally and internationally.

She was the 2004 recipient of the Margaret Burke-Sheridan Award from the Bank of Ireland/Vocal Heritage Society of Ireland for Excellence in the field of opera.

In the field of classical crossover, she has performed throughout the country with Red Hurley and with Welsh-born tenor/television presenter Aled Jones. 

Noël is a stunning Christmas album featuring some classic favourites, like ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ and ‘Silent Night’, alongside some modern numbers like Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’ and some beautiful French Christmas songs and carols sung in Sandra’s own inimitable style.

Her orchestral line-up on the album are considered some of Ireland’s finest musicians and a very special guest appearance by Sandra’s 7-year old daughter Emily on the Silent Night track adds a bit of sparkle to what promises to be one of the most original, versatile and heart-warming Christmas albums to appear on the Irish market in recent years.