Our festival: It’s a part of opera history

DAVID AGLER, the man at the helm of Wexford Festival Opera as artistic director since 2005, first experienced Wexford as a conductor back in 1996. Also conducting that year was the celebrated conductor Maurizio Benini and the now acclaimed conductor Vladimir Jurowski, who had made his international debut at Wexford the previous year.

David returned in 2000 to conduct a very young Joseph Calleja in Si j’étais Roi by Adolphe Adam. Five years later he would take on the role of artistic director, bringing with him his vast experience having previously served as music director of Vancouver Opera, principal conductor of the Australian Opera, resident conductor of the San Francisco Opera, principal guest conductor of the Oper der Stadt Köln, conductor and administrator of the Spoleto Festival, artistic director of the Opera Festival of New Jersey and Music Director of the Syracuse Opera.

Other notable opera companies with whom he has appeared include Sante Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, The Western Australian Opera, The Netherlands Opera, Reggio Emilia, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Theatre of St Louis, Edmonton Opera, Manitoba Opera and L’Opera de Montreal.

While serving as Artistic Director at Wexford Festival Opera, he also conducted Transformations by Conrad Susa in 2006 and Maria Padilla by Donizetti in 2009. As Artistic Director he set out to achieve three major goals- the formation of the Wexford Festival Orchestra in 2006, the opening of the new opera house (now the National Opera House) in 2008 and the establishment of the Wexford Festival Chorus in 2011.

‘The musical backbone of any fine opera house is its chorus and orchestra. I would like to think that the establishment of the orchestra and chorus will be my lasting contribution to the Festival,’ he said.

Still a much sought-after conductor, this year David has already conducted the world premiere of Dinner At Eight by William Balcom for Minnesota Opera and La Traviata for San Diego Opera.

What attracted David to Wexford? The answer may lie in a quote he gave to the Irish Times during his first year at the helm: ‘Wexford Festival is a beloved thing for opera lovers all over the world. It has made an important contribution to operatic history. Wexford Festival is one of Irelands great gifts to the cultural life of the world.’