Synapses - The point of contact

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FEDORA

Education Prize 2021
Shortlist

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Synapses - The point of contact

Ireland
Wexford Festival Opera

VOTING CLOSED

Synapses - The point of contact © Wexford Festival Opera, Padraig Grant Photographer i

SYNAPSES IS
IMPULSE between different languages..
TRANSMISSION of pure electricity..
FUSION of creation and performance.

Presentation

Over the past year the importance of contact, of connecting, has become ever more central to our lives. Synapses is a project that will celebrate that connection, both between generations and between artists and art.

Wexford Festival Opera is all about connecting - connecting artists, connecting audiences and reconnecting with rare operatic gems. It has long been a springboard for young and talented singers, many of whom started their careers in this world-renowned festival located in a small seaside town in Ireland. The festival is also deeply rooted in and engaged with, the local community where many of the older residents have attended the festival for decades, delighting in discovering new talent on stage.

This project will both celebrate that wealth of knowledge, new talent and strengthen those connections.

In this strange time when audiences cannot gather in traditional ways, we have a responsibility to bring art to them, to present work that audiences can enjoy in whatever location they choose, to continue to create that magical point of contact. Digital presentation has been the primary way of doing this, but while it opens doors for so many it also brings with it challenges for some audience members who may not be used to interacting with art / opera this way. Synapses will bring together young local students and older generations to experience opera together. As the artists create new work that will be showcased online, they will also spend time with both the younger and older generations of opera lovers in Wexford. Both generations will share skills, such as how to access all the new online platforms available, knowledge of the history of opera in Wexford, and swap stories and dreams. They will connect and create new points of contact through experiencing art together, which we hope will flourish long after this project is over.

Our project will be in collaboration with our existing partners Rossini Opera Festival, Maynooth University and Wexford County Council through the creation of a task force involved in the creative process.

Artistic Team

Creating something together implies a close relationship of trust, collaboration and exchange of energies.

The artistic team involved in this project has strengthened these characteristics over past few years but particularly in the last twelve months, as together they re-imagined a festival from scratch, finding creative solutions which would allow work to continue despite Covid-19.

It is for this reason that this tight-knit team, wanted to continue their artistic journey together, by creating "Synapses - The Point of Contact", a project which sees an exciting creative concept realized in a number of different ways and settings, for the audience to experience at home.

The project was conceived by Rosetta Cucchi whom, as a pianist and director, will act as a trait d'union between the various departments. Andrew Synnott, Wexford Festival Opera composer-in-residence 2020 and 2021 will oversee the musical aspects, while Roberto Recchia and Stefania Panighini will assist in creating and editing the videos throughout the project.

But the merging and interplay of these skills and the exchange of ideas will be the real trigger for "Synapses" to become an innovative way of making and enjoying opera.