Obituary: Carol Anne Lowe, talented soprano, actor and businesswoman who had a wonderful sense of fun

Last Monday family and friends gathered at the Victorian Chapel in Mount Jerome to celebrate the life of an extraordinary person, opera soprano, actress and businesswoman Carol Anne Lowe, who died after an illness on January 5.

arol Anne was born on December 13, 1963, the fourth child of Harry and Anne Lowe. She attended Our Lady of Mercy High School in Drimnagh and her love of music led her to join the school and parish choirs where, due to the strength and unique quality of her voice, she was sometimes asked to mime on location to sing.

Her professional music career began when her father brought her as a teenager to legendary singing teacher Dr Veronica Dunne, who, recognizing her amazing potential, immediately took her on as a student at Chatham Row College of Music. Her voice flourished and won many awards at feiseanna and music competitions across the country.

Her first professional engagement was in 1980 as a chorus member in Speak of the Devil with Rosaleen Linehan and Des Keogh at the Olympia Theatre. In 1983 she played Aline, opposite Tim Ryan in the Rathmines & Rathgar Musical Society’s production of The Sorcerer at the Gaiety Theatre.

In 1986, at the tender age of just 23, and having previously been a finalist in the Voice of Ireland competition, she won the Lombard and Ulster Music Scholarship, which was broadcast live on The Late Late Show. The £15,000 award was the largest music scholarship at the time and enabled her to continue her education in London with renowned singing teacher Vera Rozsa, who also taught Kiri Te Kanawa.

Principal roles followed with the Dublin Grand Opera Society and the Rathmines & Rathgar and Glasnevin musical societies with Gilbert and Sullivan operettas such as HMS Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance being particular favourites. She appeared many times in Cork and Wexford opera houses and was a regular performer at the National Concert Hall with the National Symphony and RTÉ Concert Orchestras.

David Agnew, the orchestra’s former oboist, recalls his first meeting with the stunning young soprano. “She couldn’t have been more than 17 or 18, she had a magnetic stage presence, that mane of black hair and dark eyes that sparkled. You could sense someone who had found exactly what he wanted to do and where he wanted to be.”

She went on to have an extensive international career with many shows in Europe, South Africa and the USA.

Carol Anne always looked for the good in people and believed that anyone could achieve greatness with a little help. This led her, in 2003, to found her own company, Blue Moon Communications, where she coached and mentored many people to reach their potential.

In 2004 she joined the cast of the popular soap Fair City, where she played Brazilian maid Francesca da Silva, the love interest of garage mechanic Ray O’Donnell played by Mick Nolan. In true operatic fashion, romance blossomed both in real life and on set for the two actors, and they celebrated their wedding in November 2021.

Carol Anne was a much-loved member of the classical music community and will be fondly remembered for her amazing talent, musicality, sharp wit, charm, beauty and sense of fun and laughter, but over all, we will remember her boundless generosity. and love to all with whom she came in contact.

We will think of him very often and always with a smile. Carol Anne is predeceased by her parents and her sister Barbara.

She will be remembered by her family and friends as a beautiful, talented and incredibly kind person, taken too soon.