A little about
Songbirds
Philippa O’Hara
Philippa O’Hara is a Singer and Actor from Belfast with a 2:1 Drama Degree from Queen’s University and 7 years training in Musical Theatre Performance under the London College of Music achieving grade ALCM. In June of 2009 she gained a place in the top 10 of the Sir William Lloyd Webber VoiceNPAC, a nationwide competition to find the ‘next big thing’ in Musical Theatre. In 2010 she took part in ‘Over the Rainbow’, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BBC search for a new Dorothy. Philippa beat nearly 10,000 girls all over the country throughout a series of extremely intensive audition processes, gaining a very respectable place in the final 20. Throughout this experience Philippa got to work closely with some of the finest members of the Industry such as Claire Moore, Donna Soto-Morettini and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber himself. She notes this as the most rewarding experience and greatest achievement of her life so far.
Most recently Philippa appeared as the title role in Martin Lynch’s production of Little Red Riding Hood in the Marketplace Theatre, Armagh. In April 2016 she will be playing one of the Andrews Sisters in The Playhouse Theatre, one of the highlights of the Derry/Londonderry Jazz Festival. Philippa also sings regularly all over Northern Ireland with her sister Jolene as ‘Songbirds’.
Jolene O’Hara
Jolene is a Belfast born actor/singer who began acting professionally in 2010. Before that, Jolene graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a BEng in Engineering. Deciding that this was not the career path for her, Jolene quickly changed direction and headed straight for the theatre. Her theatre credits include:
Wiper at Work (Dear Ireland, The Abbey Theatre Dublin), Polly in Good Vibrations (Lyric Theatre Belfast), Pumpgirl in Pumpgirl (Decadent Theatre Company), Kiss me Kate (Lyric Theatre Belfast), Sweeney Todd (Lyric Theatre Belfast), Logainne Scwartzandgrubenierre in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Bruiser Theatre Company), Juliet in Romeo & Juliet (C21 Theatre Company), Dewdrop in Elves and the Shoemaker (CahootsNI) and Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie (The Waterfront Belfast).
Jolene is a lead vocalist along with Philippa in the Lush! Classical with The Ulster Orchestra at the SSE Arena, Belfast. She sings the lead vocals in the Lush! Classical version of Chicane, Offshore which currently has over 4 Million views on Youtube. Lush! Classical will return in October later this year. Jolene is loving being part of the sister duo Songbirds and cannot wait to see what the future has in store for the group.