5 Things We Love About INO - #5 Opera for All
Opera is for everyone – reaching remote audiences, engaging new ones and making opera accessible is at the core of who we are. To us, ‘opera for all’ means that you don’t need to live in a capital city to access live performances of high-quality entertainment. What would be the point in programming world-class opera if we didn’t share it with music enthusiasts nationwide?
One of the highlights of our seasons is visiting regional audiences through touring. Since 2018, we’ve had the pleasure of visiting venues all over Ireland including Kerry, Wexford, Kilkenny, Galway (including Inis Meáin), Meath, Limerick, Sligo, Donegal, Cork, Louth, Wicklow, Waterford, Carlow, Longford and Kildare – and we’re not done yet!
Our amazing Outreach team, James and Paddy Jo, have also been instrumental in organising outreach projects while visiting regional venues. Most recently, youth music ensembles from around Ireland got the chance to participate in a pre-show recital, featuring a performance of the Donizetti aria ‘Com’e gentil’ alongside tenor William Pearson during our Don Pasquale tour.
Having such fantastic audiences to visit nationwide and being able to engage with first-time opera goers is something we’re passionate about, and we’re lucky to have so many of you help us feel welcome during our touring process.
So, what makes our opera world-class? The people we work with!
At INO, we get the opportunity to collaborate with incredible directors, conductors, choreographers and musicians from all over the world, while championing Irish talent both on and offstage. Our newest production, Der Rosenkavalier, stars three of Irish opera’s most formidable talents – sopranos Celine Byrne and Claudia Boyle and mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy, while allowing us to collaborate with Sante Fe Opera in New Mexico, USA and Garsingon Opera, UK, as well as work with acclaimed director Bruno Ravella, hailing from Morocco.
In Ireland, we are spoilt for homegrown talent (which can be seen on the INO stage regularly), but collaborating with artists, opera houses and production companies worldwide is also something we feel is vital to being a world-class opera company.
Along with those we work with to produce world-class productions, we’ve also been lucky enough to win some incredible awards along the way. In 2022, Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra were awarded “Outstanding Achievement in Opera” for their involvement in our production of Vivaldi’s Bajazet. In the same year we also won Best Opera for our production of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel in the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, as well as the “Arts Award” at the Docklands Business Awards alongside the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre for our production of Puccini’s ‘Tosca’. We have also just received a nomination for Best Opera for Don Pasquale in the 2023 Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards!
Celebrating five years of INO is a milestone year for us, marked by our fantastic audiences nationwide, our ability to collaborate with artists worldwide and locally, and the awards we are privileged to be nominated for.
Hopefully you’ll all be with us for our tenth anniversary, where we’ll be celebrating even more milestones!
Written by Sarah Thursfield (Marketing Executive).
