Tackling Wagner in Ireland

Recorded March 11th, 2025. A lecture by Fergus Sheil (Founding
Artistic Director of Irish National Opera) for the Music
Composition Centre Talks. Fergus is the founding artistic director
of Irish National Opera. He has conducted a wide-ranging repertoire
of over 50 different operas in performance, recordings and on film.
Highlights include Strauss’ Salome, Der
Rosenkavalier and Elektra, Rossini’s William
Tell and La Cenerentola, Brian Irvine and Netia
Jones’s Least Like The Other, Verdi’s Aida, La
traviata and Rigoletto as well as
Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Before founding Irish National
Opera in 2018, Fergus was Artistic Director of Wide Open Opera,
which he founded in 2012 and Opera Theatre Company. He has produced
opera in over 30 venues throughout Ireland as well as bringing
productions to the UK (Edinburgh International Festival, Royal
Opera House and The Barbican), USA, Holland, Luxembourg and Italy.
As conductor, Fergus has worked with major orchestras and opera
companies in Ireland as well as fulfilling engagements in the USA,
Canada, South Africa, Australia, UK, France, Netherlands, Denmark,
Sweden, Malta and Estonia. Fergus Sheil studied music at Trinity
College, graduating in 1992. While at TCD he founded the Trinity
Orchestra. He currently delivers a module in career
development at TCD’s Music Department and in 2023 he was
awarded an honorary Doctor in Letters from TCD. Learn more at
www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub