Biography
Margaret Keys, a classical soprano from Northern Ireland, earned acclaim for her elevated and ethereal delivery across the 2009 release Legato and the 2018 album The Gift of Music. Her sound attracted listeners across hemispheres and drew attention from label executives in Australasia, while her stage work extended to productions on Broadway and the West End. She became especially identified with distinctive takes on Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” and Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel.”
Born in Derry, Keys cultivated an early fascination with music and the performing arts that soon shaped her professional ambitions. At fifteen she received the gold medal for best overall singer in examinations at London’s Trinity College of Music. She later obtained a First Class Honors Degree in Music Education and pursued a master’s in Singing and Performance at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, where she mastered German, French, and Italian for operatic roles.
A BBC Fame Academy bursary funded further theater training in New York City. That preparation led to appearances in transatlantic productions of Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and My Fair Lady, where she performed with tenors Russell Watson and Alfie Boe. After signing with Universal Records Australia she issued her debut album, Legato, in 2009.
Keys subsequently presented original material and operatic standards on stages worldwide. Between tours she launched MKeys Productions to organize children’s charity performances. She joined the Fron Male Voice Choir as guest artist on their 2011 U.S. tour and returned in 2015 for her Royal Albert Hall debut at the Christmas with Stars concert. The same year she sang at a Philadelphia event marking Pope Francis’s state papal visit. In December 2016 she appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall for the Holiday for Peace Concert. Further engagements included a 2017 performance with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, a slot at the London Palladium on Sunday Night at the Palladium, and participation in the HRH Prince of Wales Foundation Concert for Children and Arts, which prompted her appointment as the organization’s official Irish Ambassador. Her second album, The Gift of Music, followed in summer 2018.
Born in Derry, Keys cultivated an early fascination with music and the performing arts that soon shaped her professional ambitions. At fifteen she received the gold medal for best overall singer in examinations at London’s Trinity College of Music. She later obtained a First Class Honors Degree in Music Education and pursued a master’s in Singing and Performance at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, where she mastered German, French, and Italian for operatic roles.
A BBC Fame Academy bursary funded further theater training in New York City. That preparation led to appearances in transatlantic productions of Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and My Fair Lady, where she performed with tenors Russell Watson and Alfie Boe. After signing with Universal Records Australia she issued her debut album, Legato, in 2009.
Keys subsequently presented original material and operatic standards on stages worldwide. Between tours she launched MKeys Productions to organize children’s charity performances. She joined the Fron Male Voice Choir as guest artist on their 2011 U.S. tour and returned in 2015 for her Royal Albert Hall debut at the Christmas with Stars concert. The same year she sang at a Philadelphia event marking Pope Francis’s state papal visit. In December 2016 she appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall for the Holiday for Peace Concert. Further engagements included a 2017 performance with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, a slot at the London Palladium on Sunday Night at the Palladium, and participation in the HRH Prince of Wales Foundation Concert for Children and Arts, which prompted her appointment as the organization’s official Irish Ambassador. Her second album, The Gift of Music, followed in summer 2018.