59th Wexford Festival Opera Opens This Weekend, October 16th

Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin, T.D. to officially launch the Festival at 7pm on the Quays and attend ceremony in the Opera House to recognise the achievements of the Wexford Festival Foundation in raising over €5.3m in private donations towards the redevelopment costs of the new building.

Among those expected to attend the opening on Saturday night will be:
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin, T.D.
Felicity Dahl
Donald Sturrock - author
Peter Ash - Composer
Patrick Manley, CEO Zurich Insurance Ireland
Czech Ambassador, Thomas Kafka
South African Ambassador, Dr. Ndou
British Ambassador Julian King
Brendan Howlin
Kevin and Catherine Dundon
Pat Moylan
Mary Cloake

Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin, T.D. will officially open the 59th Wexford Festival Opera on Saturday, October 16 on Wexford's Quay front at 7pm, with the traditional spectacular fireworks display winding up the activities on the town at approximately 7:30pm, before all the attention turns to the opening night opera, the Italian lyric tragedy Virginia by Saverio Mercadante. Following the official launch on the quay, the Minister will also attend a ceremony in the Opera House to recognise the achievements of the Wexford Festival Foundation in raising over €5.3m in private donations towards the redevelopment costs of the new building, before attending the opening night opera at 8pm, which will be broadcast live on RTÉ Lyric FM.

Wexford Quays will be closed to traffic from 5pm when families will be treated to a diverse range of top-class performers including dynamic drumming from Extreme Rhythm - Wexford percussionist Nicky Bailey's international ensemble. There will also be a performance from Festival Productions' The Wizard of Oz, ahead of its highly anticipated run in Wexford Opera House at Christmas. The Lords Of Love, who have already wowed Opera House audiences, will be bringing their hilarious musical to the Quays, so too will Maurice McCarthy and his Beatlemania show, which promises to be as fabulous as the Fab Four themselves.

The 59th Wexford Festival Opera opens on Saturday, October 16, with Virginia by Saverio Mercadante, followed by the European Premiere of The Golden Ticket by Peter Ash on Sunday, October 17. The third opera on offer is the Czech folk opera, Hubi?ka by Bed?ich Smetana with this year's winner of the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, South-African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza, in the lead role.

This year also marks the welcome return of the full daytime programme, including the very popular ShortWorks operas. The performances last little more than an hour and this year, audiences will be treated to a condensed version of Puccini's La bohème, Italian comic opera La serva padrona (The Maid as Mistress) by Giovanni Battista and Winners by Richard Wargo, based on the Brian Friel play. All three ShortWorks feature world-class singers from the evening operas, giving audiences more opportunities to hear the national and international talent that Wexford attracts. Tickets for the daytime ShortWorks at Whites Hotel are €25.

With an increased seating capacity in the internationally award-winning Wexford Opera House and an extended festival, tickets are still available for many events. Tickets can be purchased online at www.wexfordopera.com or from the Wexford Festival Opera box-office, telephone: Lo-call 1850-4-OPERA or (053) 912 2144. Daytime events from €15. Evening Operas from €25. No booking fee applies.

The 59th Wexford Festival Opera runs from Saturday, October 16 until Saturday, October 30.

Wexford Festival Opera - Your Destination!

The 59th Wexford Festival Opera is grant aided by the Arts Council, Failte Ireland, and Wexford County & Borough Councils. This year's production sponsors are INM plc, Zurich and the EPA.

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