THE tenor Dennis O'Neill stars in a New Year's Day gala concert in the National Concert Hall on the afternoon of January 1st. He will be joining the National Symphony Orchestra (conductor Albert Rosen) and soprano Mary Callan Clarke in a programme of favourite arias and duets by Puccini, Verdi, Bizet and Mozart. Meanwhile, January 5th will see the premiere of a brand-new musical by Proinnsias O Duinn on the life and work of Edward Lear, Stuff And Nonsense. The piece, which uses Lear's rhymes as lyrics, will be directed by Anne Makower with choreography by Dex McGloughin; among the cast are Joan Merrigan, Ray Barror, Michele Forbes and Juliet Murphy.