Podcasts about Wexford Festival Opera

Wexford Festival Opera is calling all primary and secondary schools, and the wider community, as part of its learning and engagement programme. Joining me to discuss this programme is Elizabeth Drwal.

Datapac, Ireland's leading technology solutions and services provider, is pleased to announce the renewal of its sponsorship with the National Opera House. This new deal, valued at €150,000 over the next four years, marks the latest chapter in a decades-spanning partnership that has supported the venue in delivering world-class performances and events. As the official ICT sponsor to the National Opera House, Datapac's proactive support enables the National Opera House to roll out its extensive programme of events to citizens and international visitors annually. This includes the Wexford Festival Opera, which welcomes patrons from over 20 countries each year. Ahead of the new sponsorship deal, Datapac engaged with all relevant stakeholders to gain a deep understanding of their respective goals. It then designed and developed an enhanced and future-proofed technology infrastructure which meets all of their evolving needs. The deal advances the National Opera House's technology strategy to boost collaboration, communication, cybersecurity, and connectivity for the venue. In turn, Datapac's solution will empower employees to continue to deliver a top-tier variety of performances for patrons across opera, theatre, dance, and music. With Datapac's solution in place, the National Opera House is becoming a more digitally managed organisation, which is helping it to meet its sustainability goals as part of its climate action plan. In addition, the technology supports the venue in delivering its Education and Community Programme which aims to engage local schools and the wider community with the arts. Established in 2008, the venue is Ireland's only custom-built opera house and was designated as Ireland's 'National Opera House' by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht 10 years ago. An estimated two million people have passed through its doors to date. Randall Shannon, Executive Director, Wexford Festival Opera, said: "Every aspect of the work we do is supported by the Datapac team. Datapac's proactive support gives us the confidence to innovate and expand, and this evolution of our strategy will ensure that we can provide an enhanced service for our valued patrons. As an important economic generator for the region, we greatly appreciate Datapac's commitment to our sustainable future. We look forward to continuing to work with the team over the next number of years." Karen O'Connor, General Manager, Datapac, said: "We are thrilled to extend our partnership with the National Opera House and build on our valued relationship. We will work closely with the team to guide the technology strategy, ensuring that, as a world-class venue, it aligns with international best practices. In a digital landscape that's ever-changing, we ensure that the venue can seamlessly deliver its year-round programme of events and the highly anticipated Wexford Festival Opera. All the world's a stage, and we are delighted to support the National Opera House which makes an invaluable contribution to arts, culture, and the economy in Wexford and across the South East." See more stories here.

This weeks visiting critic is yogi Maura Rath. She had never been to the Wexford Festival Opera so we got her out of her yoga pants and sent her off to the Opera! Find out how she got on at Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali (which translates as The Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage). For tickets go to www.wexfordopera.com

Colin Greenwood - Pat McCabe - Wexford Festival Opera review

Evelyn O' Rourke, Arts and Media Correspondent, reports on the programme of events for the 73rd Wexford Festival Opera.

Paul Herriott talks to WFO principal conductor FRANCESCO CILLUFFO, Italian Soprano LAVINIA BINI who sings the role of Rosaura and Irish Baritone RORY MUSGRAVE who sings Dottore Graziano in tonight's production of Le Maschere by Mascagni from Wexford Festival Opera 

Recorded as part of the Trinity Arts & Humanities Research Festival 2024. Critics talk about composer Charles Stanford's The Critic with Wexford Festival Opera's Rosetta Cucchi & Conor Hanratty, TUD Professor of Performance Una Hunt, and Trinity theatre expert Chris Morash (English). Learn more: www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/

Macdara Yeates - Wexford Festival Opera - Aurora: A Modern Myth

Bass-baritone Rory Dunne, accompanied by Aoife Moran on piano, joined Sean in Studio 8 to perform pieces from Don Pasqale and Carmen. Jenn Gannon and Chris Wasser review Dark Matter, Bodkin and the third series of Welcome to Wrexham. Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth speaks to Arena ahead of concerts with the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

Film Reviews - Wexford Festival Opera - Album Reviews

Conor Kane, South-East Corrrespondent, reports from Wexford where the opera festival has featured local performers.

Wexford Festival Opera's 2023 treats include a Wexford-ated take on Puccini's romp, Gianni Schicchi performed with local volunteers and future stars from Wexford Opera Factory.

Ruth Barton and Paul Whitington review The Miracle Club, Lies We Tell, Sumotherhood and The Burial - Composer and jazz pianist Sultan Stevenson and his Trio are set to tour Ireland with Music Network from October 24th - Soprano Hannah O'Brien, winner of the 2023 Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist at Wexford, accompanied by Aoife Moran on piano.

The Great Escaper - Wexford Festival Opera - John Behan 

Recorded September 19th, 2023. *Please note that this discussion contains topics of sexual violence and graphic descriptions of war. Please listen at your own discretion. ‘Women and War' is the theme of the 2023 Wexford Festival Opera (24 Oct-5 Nov). Developed by Wexford's Artistic Director, Rosetta Cucchi, this year's programme uses the medium of opera to explore how war is experienced, endured, and articulated by women. The three main stage operas at Wexford will be: Zoraida di Granata (1822) by Gaetano Donizetti; L'Aube Rouge (1911) by Camille Erlanger; and La Ciociara (Two Women) (2015) by Marco Tutino, based on the novel by Alberto Moravia. In anticipation of this innovative programme, the Trinity Long Room Hub is hosting a special discussion to explore the representation of ‘Women and War' in literature, theatre, music, and visual art. The Festival's acclaimed Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi will join the celebrated Irish Times foreign correspondent Lara Marlowe and the Trinity Long Room Hub Director, Eve Patten, for a wide-ranging conversation on the themes and vision behind this year's Wexford Festival Opera. This unique collaboration event, which will include both film and music excerpts from the opera programme itself, is open to all and not to be missed. Speakers: Rosetta Cucchi is the Artistic Director of the Wexford Festival Opera and an experienced director in many of the world's greatest opera houses. She is also a pianist, and has a master's degree in Theatre Studies from the University of Bologna. From 2006 to 2018, she was the Artistic Director of Fondazione and Symphonic Orchestra Arturo Toscanini, Parma. Her most recent and future directing projects include Tutino's La Ciociara, Wexford Festival, Figaro and La Bohème, Boston Lyric Opera, Adriana Lecouvreur, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Rossini's Otello, Rossini Festival Pesaro, Eugene Onegin, Opera Omaha, USA, and L'Amico Fritz, Teatro del Maggio Musical Fiorentino. Lara Marlowe became a foreign correspondent for The Irish Times in 1996. Since her official retirement in April 2023 she has continued to contribute regularly to the Irish Times and radio stations in France, Ireland and the UK. She has worked extensively in France, the Middle East and the US, and reported on the war in Ukraine in 2022. Before the Irish Times, she wrote for Time Magazine, the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune, covering many major world events and conflicts. Lara has received four press awards for her work for The Irish Times and was also awarded a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur for her contribution to Franco-Irish relations. In 2020, she published the best-selling memoir Love in a Time of War, My Years with Robert Fisk. Eve Patten is Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Professor of English at Trinity College, Dublin. She lectures and writes in the area of nineteenth and twentieth-century British and Irish literary history and has a special interest in the literature of war. Her most recent book is Ireland, Revolution, and the English Modernist Imagination (2022), and previous publications include Imperial Refugee: Olivia Manning's Fictions of War (2012), and, as co-editor with Richard Pine, Literatures of War (2008).

Marty celebrates Culture Night with a look ahead to the exciting 2023 Wexford Festival Opera chatting to director Rosetta Cucchi, this year on a theme of ‘Women and War.'

Rosetta Cucchi, Artistic Director of the Wexford Festival Opera, discusses the 2024 Wexford Factory as the auditions for singers and pianists begin.

Artistic Director of Wexford Festival Opera Rosetta Cucchi shares details of upcoming projects including the Wexford Factory - a development programme nuturing the operatic stars of the future.

Wexford Festival Opera artist-in-residence and creator of "Les Selenities” at this year's festival, composer-director, Conor Mitchell on a few of his favourite things.

The church that provided guidance to a boy in Finglas West, memorable Dublin first nights, avian invaders at Wexford Festival Opera and unsung female rebels of 1798, with Brian Farrell, Margaret Galvin, Dominic Dromgoole, Tom Mooney, AM Cousins and Denise Blake

Acclaimed soprano Lesley Garrett joins Marty to chat about performing in My Fair Lady at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre and making an early debut in Wexford Festival Opera.

Colm Tóibín chats with Miriam about the stage adaptation of his novel 'The Blackwater Lightship', the changes he has seen in Irish society and his opera 'The Master' being staged in Wexford Dublin Theatre Festival - www.dublintheatrefestival.ie Wexford Festival Opera - www.wexfordopera.com

Datapac, Ireland's leading ICT services & solutions provider, isdelighted to announce that Wexford Festival Opera has been recognised in the 2022 Business to Arts Awards, winning the Judge's Special Recognition Award. As one of several organisations which supports the Festival, including Danone, Ecclesiastical, Arachas Corporate Brokers Ltd and PwC, Datapac is proud to have contributed its technology and services as the Festival's longstanding official IT Partner. Datapac has been a long-term valued supporter of Wexford Festival Opera and the National Opera House for over a decade. This strong relationship has witnessed many milestones for the cultural icon of the South-East, including essential support provided during the building of the current National Opera House, which opened its doors in 2008. Ongoing support from Datapac has ensured that the world-class venue, home of the internationally acclaimed Wexford Festival Opera, always has a best-of-breed IT ecosystem fit to live up to the Festival's legacy. In 2021, Datapac extended its support to the Festival through partnering with their new outreach programme Synapses. The programme used the power of technology to rebuild connections between the Festival and communities of nursing home residents throughout Wexford. Many of the residents have been lifelong supporters of the Festival yet have been unable to experience its wonders in recent years because of the pandemic. With Datapac's support – financially, technologically and in-kind – the Festival was able to produce a highlights documentary of the 2021 festival, which was screened in nursing homes throughout the summer, helping to bring a little bit of opera magic to some of Wexford's valued communities. Dan Kickham, Chairman, Datapac, said: “As longstanding official IT Partner, Datapac is delighted to see the Festival's outstanding achievements recognised in this year's Business to Arts Awards. The Festival continues to be a cultural mainstay of Wexford, and indeed, of the South East, and the value brought to the artistic heritage of the region is immeasurable. Supporting and enriching the wider community has always been a core guiding ethos of the Festival, as witnessed this year in the wonderful Synapses outreach programme which Datapac supported.” Randall Shannon, Executive Director, Wexford Festival Opera, said: “We're delighted to have won the Judge's Special Recognition Award at this year's Business to Arts Awards. Thanks to the support of our sponsors, we can continue to bring world-class experiences to Wexford year after year. This past year, with the valued support of Datapac, we were able to bring the opera to our community in new ways, making meaningful connections with all of our audiences.” See more stories here. More about Irish Tech News Irish Tech News are Ireland's No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland's No.1 Tech Podcast too. You can find hundreds of fantastic previous episodes and subscribe using whatever platform you like via our Anchor.fm page here: If you'd like to be featured in an upcoming Podcast email us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie now to discuss. Irish Tech News have a range of services available to help promote your business. Why not drop us a line at Info@IrishTechNews.ie now to find out more about how we can help you reach our audience. You can also find and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

While the countdown to Wexford Festival Opera (WFO) 2022 is well underway, the Festival and Datapac have been bringing a small taste of the magic that is Wexford Festival Opera to residents in care homes throughout Wexford this summer. The initiative is part of the Festival's outreach programme, Synapses. With the support of technology partner Datapac, the team at Wexford Festival Opera have been screening a documentary film featuring highlights from the 2021 Festival in a number of nursing homes throughout the county, including Wygram, Kerlogue, and Castlebridge Manor Nursing Homes. By bringing some of the world-class performances from last autumn's festival to local care homes, Synapses has helped to build deeper connections with the community, giving residents the chance to share their own memories and lived experiences. As technology partner, Datapac is enabling these screenings by providing the technology needed to make it happen, as well as funding and on-the-ground engineering support. Wexford Festival Opera was founded in 1951 by a group of local opera enthusiasts and to this day volunteers play a vital role in the festival's continued growth and success. Ever further building those connections in lots of different ways is a key priority for the festival team. These visits are just the start of the relationship the Festival is building with these local care homes. From the connections made, and with support from Datapac, the Festival will continue to engage with the residents through further activities, visits, performances, and invitations to events in the lead up to Wexford Festival Opera 2022, which runs from 21 October – 6 November. Datapac is a long-standing partner of both Wexford Festival Opera and the National Opera House. Speaking of the initiative, WFO Executive Director Randall Shannon said: “As a major partner in our outreach programme, Datapac works collaboratively with us to find new and innovative ways to stay connected to our community. This is an important part of our work and I have enjoyed giving residents a glimpse of last year's Festival and hearing their own memories.” Dan Kickham, Chairman, Datapac said: “With our roots in Wexford spanning forty years, Datapac is proud to support Wexford Festival Opera's wonderful outreach programme as the Official Technology Partner. By harnessing the power of technology, Synapses plays an important role in helping to strengthen the links between communities and the world-renowned cultural icon that is Wexford Festival Opera. We're delighted to deepen our own connection with both the Festival and the National Opera House and we're looking forward to another fantastic programme of events in 2022.” See more podcasts here. More about Irish Tech News Irish Tech News are Ireland's No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland's No.1 Tech Podcast too. You can find hundreds of fantastic previous episodes and subscribe using whatever platform you like via our Anchor.fm page here: If you'd like to be featured in an upcoming Podcast email us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie now to discuss. Irish Tech News have a range of services available to help promote your business. Why not drop us a line at Info@IrishTechNews.ie now to find out more about how we can help you reach our audience. You can also find and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

Rosetta shares her plans for the ongoing 70th anniversary celebrations running from the last festival to the next, and previews this year's festival, entitled 'Magic & Music'.

Magic & Music is the theme of this year's Wexford Festival Opera. All I Can Say, a film based on video recordings made by Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon. The Ten, a short story by Colin Barrett - Jazz musician Guy Barker.

The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is staging a special concert for Halloween, Spooktacular is conducted by Stephen Bell, Arena is championing Nuala O'Connor's book Nora for the Audience Choice Award, Nuala retrace Joyce & Barnacle's first date in Dublin, 'The History of Wexford Festival Opera with Dr Karina Daly, Chris Wasser on the films of Edgar Wright.

Marking the 70th Wexford Festival Opera: stories, music and song from Wexford, with Margaret Galvin, Joe Brennan, Tom Mooney, Jackie Morrissey, AM Cousins and Sinéad O'Reilly

President pays tribute to poets Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Brendan Kennelly; Ireland re-opens; Covid in hospitals; Race inequality in higher education; Baldwin fires prop gun, kills cinematographer; British ex-soldier dies while on trial; Ireland misses emissions target; Wexford Festival Opera; Skeletons in Cork; Mhac an tSaoi and Kennelly remembered

President pays tribute to poets Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Brendan Kennelly; Ireland re-opens; Covid in hospitals; Race inequality in higher education; Baldwin fires prop gun, kills cinematographer; British ex-soldier dies while on trial; Ireland misses emissions target; Wexford Festival Opera; Skeletons in Cork; Mhac an tSaoi and Kennelly remembered

Paul Herriott caught up with the cast and creative team behind the Wexford Festival Opera 2021 production of Le Songe d'une Nuit d'Éte by Ambroise Thomas. Including Sebastien Gueze (Shakespeare), Hasmik Torosyan (Elizabeth 1), conductor Guillaume Tourniaire and festival Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi and Executive Director Randall Shannon.

Jenn Gannon on the return of Succession, Shakespeare is the theme of the 70th Wexford Festival Opera, who better to direct a Shakespeare inspired opera than Conor Hanratty, Soprano Jade Phoenix will be performing in the opera, A mobile living thing is a new exhibition of drawings by artist Brian Fay, now on at the Municipal Gallery, Dun Laoghaire.

With the return to live entertainment the Wexford Festival Opera have a special concert on September 26th featuring blossoming new talent from the Wexford festival Academy Alan Corcoran speaks with Soprano Ava Dodd and Bass-Baritone Rory Dunne.

Three Irish opera/music theatre companies have made the shortlist for three different Fedora prizes; Irish National Opera in the digital category, Wexford Festival Opera in the education category and Straymaker in the Opera Prize Category. In this episode we speak to Michael Gallen, the composer of a new opera called Elsewhere and founder of Straymaker.

Cian, Daniel, and Adam chat to one of Irish opera's rising stars and AIMS Best Singer winner, Rory Dunne, fresh from his performances on RTÉ with Wexford Festival Opera, as well as look at the latest musical to get the small screen treatment.

Level 3 restrictions imposed nationwide; Did NPHET bow to political pressure?; Where to now for Seamus Woulfe?; Trump hospitalised with Covid; Motorists could pay thousands more in tax on polluting cars; SocDems call on Tánaiste to apologise to Chief Medical Officer; Tropical fern found in Ireland; Tourism Recovery Taskforce; Wexford Festival Opera

Level 3 restrictions imposed nationwide; Did NPHET bow to political pressure?; Where to now for Seamus Woulfe?; Trump hospitalised with Covid; Motorists could pay thousands more in tax on polluting cars; SocDems call on Tánaiste to apologise to Chief Medical Officer; Tropical fern found in Ireland; Tourism Recovery Taskforce; Wexford Festival Opera

Sinéad Crowley reports on the annual Wexford Festival Opera, which takes place this weekend but with no audience.

My guest today is Greek Opera Director Rodula Gaitanou. We talk about early musical influences, her memories of Wexford Festival Opera and how becoming a parent changes your focus.I do hope you enjoy this chat!Musici Chats is presented by Beth McNinch:Freelance violist living in Ireland.Artistic Director of Musici IrelandTo find out more about Musici Ireland please visit our website http://musici.ie/Be sure to Subscribe and tell all you friends about us!!

"A lady should always act like a lady" says Eliza Scarlett. Creator of 'Miss Scarlet and The Duke' Rachel New describes Eliza as "an independent woman living at a time when women had little rights". The period detective drama was filmed in Dublin. Artistic Dir. Rosetta Cucchi on Wexford Festival Opera & a review of the novel 'A Thousand Moons'.

Library Lunchtime Lecture by Professor Úna Hunt, Professor of Music Performance Research at the TU Dublin Conservatory. The fifth lecture in our series on 'Discovering Thomas Moore.' This lecture series accompanied our exhibition 'Discovering Thomas Moore: Ireland in nineteenth-century Europe'. Curated by musicologist Dr Sarah McCleave, School of Arts, English & Languages, QUB, the exhibition and lecture series exposes the breadth of Moore's research and writing about Ireland and explores Moore's role as an Irish writer with an international reputation in positioning Ireland within Europe through cultural exchange. It also addresses contemporary European fascination with the orient and Moore's influential role in depicting eastern culture, particularly via his hugely successful work, Lalla Rookh. Location: Academy House Date: Wednesday 20 November, 2019 Speaker: Una Hunt is Professor of Music Performance Research at the TU Dublin Conservatory and, as a prominent Moore scholar, has published widely on the subject. Her seminal book: ‘Sources and Style in Moore's Irish Melodies' is published by Routledge. Una also enjoys a flourishing career as an international pianist and curated a 38-venue national tour of Moore's Irish Melodies in 2008 and has since performed Moore in many prestigious international venues including Carnegie Hall, New York. Her discography of world-premiere CDs on Irish music includes the first ever complete archive of the Irish Melodies (6CD box set: My Gentle Harp, 2008) and a collection of the songs performed with a period instrument – Moore's Irish Melodies, the Square Piano Recordings (2009). She compiled the multi-media outputs for the exhibition first shown at the Royal Irish Academy: My Gentle Harp – Moore's Irish Melodies, 1808-2008, which was subsequently toured across Ireland and viewed by 100,000 people. Una is also an award-winning radio producer and presenter and has compiled numerous features for the BBC and RTE, including the 6-programme series: My Gentle Harp. She is presently collaborating with Wexford Festival Opera to mount a performance of The Veiled Prophet opera by Irish composer, Charles Villiers Stanford, based on Moore's oriental romance, Lalla Rookh. Disclaimer: The Royal Irish Academy has prepared this content responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors' own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.

In this episode, Carlos answers the question "What is an orchestra's role in serving the community it is in?" In my journey to find out why musicians think classical music is relevant and important, Carlos' answer provides some important insight and wisdom as to why a community should care about having a symphony orchestra as part of it's culture.Mastering engineer - Brandon JochumCarlos' bio -Carlos Izcaray is Music Director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and of the American Youth Symphony. Praised by the international press as inspiring, spirited and conducting with nuanced sensitivity, he has appeared with numerous ensembles across five continents and is now firmly established as one of the leading conductors of his generation. Throughout his career Izcaray has shown special interest and prowess in tackling some of the most complex scores in the symphonic repertoire, while also championing a historically informed approach.On the symphonic platform he is leading ensembles such as the Pacific, St. Louis, North Carolina, Grand Rapids and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphonies, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin, Malmö Symfoniorkester, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Orchestra Regionale dell’Emilia-Romagna, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Macedonian Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfônica da Bahia, Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas, among others. Izcaray’s latest recording, ‘Through the Lens of Time’, featuring Max Richter’s Recomposed: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and violinist Francisco Fullana, was released in March 2018 on the Orchid Classics label, and has garnered widespread attention and praise.Izcaray is equally at home with opera repertoire, receiving rave reviews for his performances at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Utah Opera, Opera Omaha, International Opera Festival Alejandro Granda in Peru, and in particular at the Wexford Festival Opera, where he has led many productions since the opening of Ireland’s National Opera House. His 2010 performances of Virginia by Mercadante won the Best Opera prize at the Irish Theatre Awards.A strong believer of supporting the younger generations, Izcaray has worked extensively with the world’s top talents and leading music institutions, including his country’s own El Sistema. In 2014 he led a tour of the Filarmónica Joven de Colombia, and he has additionally worked with the Fundación Batuta, Neojiba in Brazil, London Schools Symphony Orchestra, and Cambridge University Music Society, where he has also taught conducting workshops. Following a project at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in summer 2015 he returned there for a performance with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2017. Building on his passion for music education, he became the Music Director of the American Youth Symphony in autumn 2016.A distinguished instrumentalist himself, Izcaray has featured as concert soloist and chamber musician worldwide, and served as Principal Cello and Artistic President of the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra prior to dedicating his career fully to the podium. Increasingly active as a composer, Izcaray’s orchestral work Cota Mil was premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas. April 2018 saw the premiere of his Strike Fugaz by the American Youth Symphony, commissioned in association with the Human Rights Watch to commemorate, and celebrate, the campaign for worldwide social justice, equality and freedom - a cause for which Izcaray is a proud and committed advocate. Izcaray’s Cello Concerto receSupport the show (https://thatsnotspit.com/support/)

In this episode we speak to Irish composer Andrew Synnott about his musical upbringing, influences and new opera La Cucina which will premiere at Wexford Festival Opera this October.

In Sidenote, Opera San José director of marketing and development (and retired opera singer) Aaron St. Clair Nicholson sits down with members of the opera world about the work of putting a production on the stage. In this episode, Nicholson talks with Michael Shell, directing of OSJ's season opener, Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio. About Michael Shell: Michael Shell returns in the 2018-19 season to direct the company premiere of Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. Previously, Mr. Shell received critical acclaim for his direction of OSJ’s West Coast premiere of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Silent Night and Puccini’s La bohème. He made his OSJ debut as stage director of Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers in the 2014-15 season. Mr. Shell’s “visionary” and “masterful storytelling” is steadily leading him to be one of the most sought after directors in the United States. His “thoughtful and detailed score study” is shown in character development and relationships onstage as well as the complete visual world he creates. Shell has directed productions for Atlanta Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Opera Omaha, Opera Tampa, Opera North, Virginia Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He made his international directing debut at the Wexford Festival Opera in 2010 with a production of “Winners,” by American composer Richard Wargo and returned the next fall to direct Double Trouble – Trouble in Tahiti & The Telephone. He has written and directed three cabarets, including All About Love and The Glamorous Life – A group therapy session for Opera Singers, both for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Shell holds a BM and MM in Music/Vocal Performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He was a Corbett Scholar at The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, as well as studying Acting and Scene Study on a school awarded scholarship at the internationally renowned H.B. Studios in NYC. He has been a guest faculty member at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Florida State University and Webster University, St. Louis, teaching Opera Workshop and directing Undergraduate Opera Workshop performances. In addition, he has been guest director at The A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, Oklahoma University and is a frequent guest director at Indiana University.

Conductor David Agler is making his debut with San Diego Opera with this production of La traviata. He is currently the Artistic Director of Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland and shares with us some of the achievements of that company which include the staging of rarely performed operas and the discovery of wonderful young singers. Enjoy!

This documentary looks to the history of the Wexford Festival Opera since its formation in 1951. From the outset the Festival became one of the world’s leading opera festivals. Under its founding director, Dr Tom Walsh, the festival began a steady climb to international success which continues to entertain audiences to this day. (1991)

The staging of the opera 'Guglielmo Ratcliff' by Mascagni, part of the Wexford Festival Opera 2015, with contributions by the artisitc team, designers, costume and make-up artists, stage management and administration team.

Arts Tonight with conductor Stephen Barlow as guest - conductor of Koanga by Frederick Delius, hte opening opera of Wexford Festival Opera 2015

Elizabeth Futral (Catherine) Vladimir Ognev (Peter the Great) Aled Hall (Danilowitz) Christopher Maltman (Gritzenko) Darina Takova (Prascovia) Juan Diego Florez (George) Agnete Munk Rasmussen (Natalie) Patrizia Cigna (Ekimona) Robert Lee (Ismailov) Fernand Bernardi (Reynolds) Luis Ledesma (Yermolov). Wexford Festival Opera, October, 1996. Wladimir Jurowski, Conductor.

Elizabeth Futral (Catherine) Vladimir Ognev (Peter the Great) Aled Hall (Danilowitz) Christopher Maltman (Gritzenko) Darina Takova (Prascovia) Juan Diego Florez (George) Agnete Munk Rasmussen (Natalie) Patrizia Cigna (Ekimona) Robert Lee (Ismailov) Fernand Bernardi (Reynolds) Luis Ledesma (Yermolov). Wexford Festival Opera, October, 1996. Wladimir Jurowski, Conductor.

Elizabeth Futral (Catherine) Vladimir Ognev (Peter the Great) Aled Hall (Danilowitz) Christopher Maltman (Gritzenko) Darina Takova (Prascovia) Juan Diego Florez (George) Agnete Munk Rasmussen (Natalie) Patrizia Cigna (Ekimona) Robert Lee (Ismailov) Fernand Bernardi (Reynolds) Luis Ledesma (Yermolov). Wexford Festival Opera, October, 1996. Wladimir Jurowski, Conductor.