Wexford Opera Festival

Executive summary by darmansjah

The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.

The Festival began in 1951 under Tom Walsh and a group of opera lovers who quickly generated considerable interest by programming unusual and rare works, a typical festival staging three operas. This concept has been maintained over the company's history under the direction of seven different Artistic Directors. From the beginning, the company embraced new and upcoming young singers, many of whom were Irish, but it also embraced new names from the international scene who made first appearances there.

By the 1960s Czech and Russian operas entered the repertory, while the 1970s saw an interest in the operas of Jules Massenet under director Thomson Smillie, followed by an emphasis on Italian operas from the end of that decade. However, into the mix there appeared more modern operas by Benjamin Britten and Carlisle Floyd while Elaine Padmore's 12-year tenure resulted in more international singers making first appearances and the beginnings of commercial recordings and radio broadcasts.

The current Artistic Director since 2005, David Agler, oversaw the creation of a new opera house with enhanced facilities on the site of the original theatre.