Young people from Wexford are getting ready to premiere a unique new Youth Opera this July at the National Opera House

Music Generation Wexford, in partnership with Wexford Festival Opera, are thrilled to announce that tickets are on sale for Seedlings, Friday July 14th, 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the National Opera House website and box office.

Seedlings is a futuristic climate change Opera, which has been developed as part of a series of collaborative workshops with young people from Wexford. Since July 2022, young people have been attending Music Generation Wexford’s Youth Opera Workshops with the aim of creating a Youth Opera based on environmental themes. During this time the young people have developed performance skills, creative thinking, and self-expression as they worked with a diverse range of industry professionals including vocal coach and Music Generation Wexford Musician Educator Elizabeth Drwal, Composer and conductor Andrew Synnott, poet Sasha Terfous, climate change ambassador Adam O’Rua, Juggler Brendan Fahy, and Music Generation Wexford Musician Educators Aileen Donohoe, witness writer and vocal coach, Pete McCamley, actor and Justin Cullen, songwriter. Katherine Atkinson, Music Development Officer in Music Generation Wexford, says “Youth centered creativity is at the heart of our youth opera, Seedlings. Ideas, stories, music, movement and singing have been explored, written about and brought to life, building a new world with the young people. Our team of opera professionals, musician educators and the Music Generation Wexford project manager and administrator embodied a production company in the development of this work, so it really is a collaborative creation. We are so excited at the growth of Seedlings, a significant outcome of our performance music education programme in Wexford.” The story of Seedlings began back in July when An Taisce climate ambassador Adam O’Rua presented the young people with three climate futures and how these might impact the world around us from housing, agriculture, transport and how we can adapt to meet these challenges. Over the next few months these conversations continued as the group explored new ideas and possible climate futures from colonies on Mars, to new communal living models! From this research, Seedlings has developed into an Opera that is a call for action, as well as a reminder that it’s not too late to make changes. This very ambitious, inventive new work is centered around a possible climate future and is told through a fantastical story of an underground community and their Artificial Intelligence, Nonnetta, played by Wexford’s Hannah Devereux who is currently studying at the Birmingham Conservatory of Music. On the night the young people will perform with a professional chamber orchestra conducted by Andrew Synnott in the O’Reilly Theatre, including young Wexford violinist Eve Donohoe, most recently the inaugural winner of the Music for Wexford Betty O’Brien Bursary Award. Seedlings costumes are designed by Jeni Roddy. For director Elizabeth Dwral “The opera focusses on one of the many scenarios explored during our workshops: a life lived underground to escape flood or raging heat. To early 21st century eyes this may appear a bleak future, yet the opera represents the resourcefulness and hope young people carry in their hearts for their future adult ambitions. The piece invites the audience to gaze into the here and now. It challenges the game of chance we are playing with nature and we are reminded that the ‘younglings’ of today are the ‘seedlings’ of future life for this planet who we need to nurture.” This new Youth Opera has been devised in collaboration with the young people attending Music Generation Wexford’s Opera workshops, written and directed by Elizabeth Drwal and composed by Andrew Synnott.  This project would not be possible without the support of Wexford Festival Opera, Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board, The National Opera House and Wexford County Council. Book online   www.nationaloperahouse.ie , in person at the National Opera House box office, or by telephone +353 53 912 2144. For more information on the Opera please contact wexfordyouthopera@wwetb.ie