The Arts Council has today announced a series of initiatives under its new opera strategy, including an open call for main-scale Irish opera provision from 2018 and supports for opera artists.

Major new Irish productions of popular main-scale opera are set to return on a regular basis from next year under a new Arts Council policy, the agency for developing the arts has said. The performances come as part of a range of new initiatives being implemented from this year with extra investment in the art form under the Council’s new opera policy.

In addition to main-scale opera for Irish audiences in Dublin and other cities, the Arts Council has also committed to introducing:

A new opera commissions award

Bursaries for opera artists

A travel and training scheme for opera artists

A new three-stranded Opera Production and Projects award which will integrate support for independent producers and artists

Continued support for the further development of Festival Opera and smaller-scale touring Opera across Ireland

Speaking today, Chair of the Arts Council, Sheila Pratschke said, “I am delighted that the Arts Council has committed to increasing significantly its investment in Opera in Ireland over the coming years.  This additional investment will provide enhanced opportunities for opera artists to develop their professional careers as well as creating more opportunities for people across Ireland to experience high quality opera productions. 

“The Council’s new strategy provides for the regular presentation of Irish produced main-scale, core –repertoire opera in Dublin with additional touring to other cities, the growth in smaller scale touring opera to all parts of the country, a continuation of new Irish operas from ‘independent’ producers and emerging artists as well as the continued support for our major international festival of rare repertoire opera in Wexford.  

“We look forward to working with Government over the coming years to build a sustainable, well-resourced and ambitious opera sector in Ireland.” 

The announcement follows a dialogue process with the sector and a detailed review of opera policy and provision in Ireland, which took place last year. The new opera policy maintains the Council’s strategy of prioritising support to both the individual artist and public engagement as outlined in its 10-year strategy Making Great Art Work ,by seeking to address the particular needs of opera artists and audiences identified in the review process. A key concern was to achieve a more balanced and sustainable national opera provision.

Today, the Arts Council issued an ‘open call’ for proposals from parties interested in producing main-scale opera repertoire in Ireland from 2018. Following an assessment of  the proposals received, the Arts Council hopes to announce a formal multi-year agreement with a producer by the summer of 2017 with performances from 2018 onwards.

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