Wexford Festival Opera Unveils 75th Anniversary Season

https://operawire.com/wexford-festival-opera-unveils-75th-anniversary-season/

Wexford Festival Opera announces it 2026 season. This article only features opera events. Main Stage Operas First up is Pietro Mascagni and Luigi Illica’s “FIris.” Rosetta Cucchi directs and Francesco Cilluffo conducts. Performance Dates: October 15, 20, 23, 28, & 31, 2026 “L’equivoco stravagante” by Gioachino Rossini and Gaetano Gasbarri is next. Max Hoehn directs. Riccardo Bisatti conducts. Performance Dates: October {…}

Business

Wexford Festival Trust Names Sixth President

https://operawire.com/wexford-festival-trust-names-sixth-president/

As it prepares for its 75th anniversary, the Wexford Festival Trust has announced the appointment of Dr. Terry Neill as its sixth President. Neill, who has spent 32 years with Andersen Worldwide/Accenture in Dublin, Chicago, and London, serving as Chair of the worldwide board and Global Managing Partner for the firm’s change management practice, will officially assume the role on {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q & A: Soprano Sophie Junker On Playing Giulia In Cavalli’s ‘Pompeo Magno’ & Her Forthcoming Debut At The Wexford Festival Opera.

https://operawire.com/q-a-soprano-sophie-junker-on-playing-giulia-in-cavallis-pompeo-magno-her-forthcoming-debut-at-the-wexford-festival-opera/

(Photo: Alan Neilson) The main presentation at this year’s Bayreuth Baroque Festival was a lavish, fully staged production of Francesco Cavalli’s 1666 opera, “Pompeo Magno,” boasting a large cast of high-quality singers and actors. Playing the role of Giulia was the Belgian soprano Sophie Junker, who, since winning both the London Händel Competition in 2010 and Innsbruck’s Cesti Competition in {…}

News

Wexford Festival Opera Invites Audience to Choose Production for Festival’s 75th Anniversary

https://operawire.com/wexford-festival-opera-invites-audience-to-choose-production-for-festivals-75th-anniversary/

(Photo credit: Derek Speirs) For the first time, Wexford Festival Opera is inviting audience members to vote for the opera they would like to be performed at the upcoming 75th anniversary Festival. Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi has announced that the public can vote between Rossini’s “L’equivoco stravagante,” which was last staged at Wexford Festival Opera in 1968; Paisiello’s “Il barbiere {…}

Business, News, On This Day

Suzanne Nance To Be Wexford Festival Opera’s Next Executive Director

https://operawire.com/suzanne-nance-to-be-wexford-festival-operas-next-executive-director/

(Credit: AJ Coots) Wexford Festival Opera has named Suzanne Nance to the position of Executive Director. Nance, who was recently stepped down from her position at All Classical Radio after 10 years with the company, will take up her new role in January 2026, taking over for Interim Executive Direcor Loughlin Deegan. “I am deeply honoured to join Wexford Festival {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi on This Year’s Wexford Festival & Productions for the Händel Festival in Göttingen & the Rossini Festival in Pesaro

https://operawire.com/q-a-artistic-director-rosetta-cucchi-on-this-years-wexford-festival-productions-for-the-handel-festival-in-gottingen-the-rossini-festival-in-pesaro/

(Photo: Armati Bacciardi) Over the next few months, OperaWire will be reviewing a number of productions at a variety of festivals across the globe. One name that keeps cropping up, at least in Europe, is that of Rosetta Cucchi. Blessed with a never-ending supply of energy and ideas, she always has one project on the go with others in the {…}

News

Randall Shannon to Step Down from Wexford Festival Opera

https://operawire.com/randall-shannon-to-step-down-from-wexford-festival-opera/

The Board of Wexford Festival Trust has announced Randall Shannon’s term as Executive Director of Wexford Festival Opera will end when his contract finishes on Feb. 14, 2025. The Chair of the Board Paul Cleary announced the news and extended his gratitude to Shannon for his commitment to the festival over the past four years. During his four years with {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Wexford Festival Opera 2024 Review: The Critic

https://operawire.com/wexford-festival-opera-2024-review-the-critic/

(Photo: Patricio Cassinoni) History has not been kind to Charles Villiers Stanford’s reputation as an opera composer. During his lifetime he wrote nine complete operas, which, apart from his comic opera “Seamus O’Brien,” was met with limited success. Today, they are rarely performed, and none have found their way into the mainstream repertoire. In 2019, the Wexford Festival Opera produced {…}