Le Foyer des Artistes and West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival have announced a new partnership.
As we prepare to open our 2026/27 season at Festival Respighi in Bologna with the world premiere of Ina Boyle's chamber opera Maudlin of Paplewick, sung by an all-star Irish cast in our own critical edition published by Faber Music, London, we are already looking forward to bringing the work home.
In 2027, Le Foyer des Artistes, in collaboration with West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival, will give the Irish premiere in Boyle's own county.
2027 brings a rare alignment: 60 years since Boyle's death, the Festival's 10th anniversary, and our own fifth season. Three milestones in one year, and the composer's own county finally hears the work she never heard performed in her lifetime.
Darren Hargan, Founder and Artistic Director of Le Foyer des Artistes:
"We are getting set to open our season in Italy at the Respighi Festival in Bologna. Boyle was a contemporary of Respighi, and this international Italian festival is the right context for this important work by an Irish composer. Moreover, bringing it to her home county for its Irish premiere, during the West Wicklow Festival's 10th anniversary and 60 years since her death, is a milestone in the growing revival of interest in her legacy."
Fiachra Garvey, Founder and Artistic Director of West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival:
"I'm excited and inspired to announce our collaboration with Le Foyer des Artistes, to bring Ina's opera to her home county for its Irish premiere. Ina is one of Wicklow's most iconic composers, a pioneer in so many respects. Championing her in her home county is the perfect way to celebrate our 10th birthday, her 60th anniversary and her phenomenal legacy. This marks the beginning of a special partnership and we look forward to sharing a few special stories along the way; but most importantly, platforming this wonderful music!"
