Cathal McCabe is a tenor from Dublin, Ireland. He was a Studio Artist at Irish National Opera for the 2024/25 Season and is currently a member of the Dutch National Opera Academy in The Netherlands. At the 2025 Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, he won the Jane Carty Prize for most promising competitor aged 25 or under. He also won the Dermot Troy Prize for highest placed Irish competitor. Cathal has participated in masterclasses with world-renowned singers such as Sir Thomas Allen, Tara Erraught, Pietro Spagnoli and Isabel Leonard.
His recently performed roles include Schoolmaster in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen with the Dutch National Opera Academy, Gabriel von Eisenstein in Strauss' Die Fledermaus with Westminster Opera Company, Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte with Opera in the Open, Acis in Handel's Acis & Galatea with Opera in the Open, Buck Mulligan in Wenzelberg's Nighttown, Henry Crawford in the Irish premiere of Jonathan Dove's Mansfield Park, Shouter in the world premiere of Caruso's Lady Gregory in America at Wexford Festival Opera and Nanki-Poo in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado at the National Concert Hall. As part of the Opera Forward Festival, he recently performed new compositions with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra at Dutch National Opera.
Cathal's will sing Mr Rushworth in Jonathan's Dove Mansfield Park with Opera Collective Ireland and will make his German debut at Theater Kiel as The Doctor in Ruders' The Handmaid's Tale. In the Dutch National Opera Academy's upcoming season, he will sing Ecclitico in Haydn's Il mondo della luna, Guglielmo Antolstoinoff in Donizetti's Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali, Chanfalla in Henze's Das Wundertheater and Lacoufe in Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias.
With Irish National Opera, he covered the role of Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, stepping in for multiple full runs in production. He has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, recording arias with the latter for broadcast on RTÉ Lyric FM.
He is an experienced oratorio singer, having sung the solo tenor roles in Handel's Messiah, Scarlatti's Messa di Santa Cecilia and Haydn's The Creation with Esker Festival Orchestra.
Cathal received a first-class honours Bachelor's degree from the TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Drama. He received the Academic Excellence award for the highest graduating mark from the entire Department of Arts & Humanities. He was the 2026 recipient of the Bríd Phelan Emerging Talent Award from Blackwater Valley Opera Festival and won the Song Prize at the NI Opera/BBC Radio 3 Glenarm Festival of Voice. He has performed multiple times as a soloist with Northern Ireland Opera in productions and recitals at the Grand Opera House Belfast. Cathal has appeared on national television and radio. He has sung on the RTÉ Six One News, Ireland's flagship news programme.
Cathal McCabe Tenor