Wexford Festival Trust Elects New Chairman

Wexford Festival Trust, the company which produces the annual Wexford Festival Opera and manages Wexford Opera House, has announced the election of a new Chairman of its board of directors.

Ger Lawlor, a long-serving board member and one of its two current Vice Chairmen, will assume the role of Chairman with effect from January 1, 2013, fulfilling the role of Chairman Elect in the interim period, working alongside outgoing Chairman, Peter Scallan, whose term of office expires at the end of this year.

The Chairman Elect currently serves as chairman of the Artistic Advisory Committee, and is a member of the Finance Committee. He possesses an intimate and broad knowledge and understanding of the organisation, gained from serving in a number of voluntary roles over many years, in both the artistic and administrative areas of operations. He was also a member of the board’s working group which liaised with the designers of Wexford Opera House.

Ger commented, “Following our recent and successful programme of restructuring, coupled with the organisation’s unrivalled national and international reputation, our priority is now to begin a new programme of sustainable growth, and excellence for Wexford Festival Opera and Wexford Opera House. I greatly look forward to my role as Chairman as we begin another chapter in our 61 year history.”

Outgoing Chairman Peter Scallan, who served for the past three challenging and exciting years, commented:”Wexford Festival Opera has always been one of the World’s greatest cultural events, and naturally the global economic crisis has created enormous challenges. I’m happy to see Wexford come out of this period with growing audiences and a stable financial structure. Our art has been enhanced by the fabulous new Opera House, as we new prepare for our fifth Festival in the venue. Ger brings with him a wealth of experience and I wish him every success and look forward to supporting him in the coming years”.

The 61st Wexford Festival Opera will run for 12 days from Wednesday, 24 October until Sunday, 4 November. This year’s programme will include 3 mainstage opera productions: L’Arlesiana by Francesco Cilèa; Le Roi malgré lui (The King in Spite of Himself) by Emmanuel Chabrier; and A Village Romeo and Juliet by Frederick Delius, as well as 2 daytime ShortWork operas: A Dinner Engagement by Lennox Berkeley and The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

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