Shine A Light Goes Beyond the Footlights To Meet Some Of The people behind Wexford Festival Opera

The singers, costumes and performances may take centre stage during Wexford Festival Opera, but this weeks Shine a Light programme is turning the spotlight on the people whose work and stories often go unseen.

Beyond the Footlights looks behind the scenes of the festival in its 75th anniversary year, meeting composers, emerging performers, community cast members and some of the volunteers who keep the event running.

Among them is Irish composer Eilish Ní Ríain, creator of this year's community opera Still, Life….

Eilish is deaf and spoke about how she experiences music through sight, vibration and the hearing she retains at lower frequencies.

She admitted there is music she writes that she will never fully hear herself, but said she remains driven to create and believes there needs to be greater understanding of the different ways deaf and hard-of-hearing people experience sound.

The programme also meets ordinary members of the Wexford community who have found themselves performing alongside professionals.

Brazilian-born Natalia joined after spotting a message in a WhatsApp group, while Fiona Dempsey said the experience has transformed her confidence and given her a new passion and Trish Barron reflects on what the journey has meant to her especially given her family history of having two tenors as uncles.

There is also a look at the reality for young professional singers through Wexford Factory performers Eimear Harper and Eadaoin Hassett, who speak about the years of training, constant practice and financial uncertainty involved in developing a career in opera.

And then there are the volunteers.

Bernadette Honahan has been involved with the festival for around 30 years and now coordinates a team of around 70 volunteers covering 45 daytime events during the festival whilst Trish Bent has also been involved for 30 years and is passionate about her involvement and why she keeps coming back.

Executive Director Suzanne Nance said that local people are at the heart of Wexford Festival Opera describing Wexford itself as the festival's “leading lady”.

If you missed the episode you can listen back now through the podcast section of our website or wherever you get your podcasts

This program is funded by the news reporting scheme