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Wexford Festival Singers (WFS) was established in 1975 and since its foundation the choir has sung in almost every Wexford Festival Opera. WFS has performed many of the great works in the choral repertoire including the requiems of Brahms, Cherubini and Fauré, Rossini's and Dvorák's Stabat Mater and Stravinsky's Les Noces. In 1998, to commemorate the bicentenary of the 1798 rebellion, WFS was joined by choirs from Belfast, Fermanagh and Carlow to sing Mozart's Requiem. More recent concerts featured Gounod's Messe Solennelle de Sainte Cécile, Puccini's Messe di Gloria (both with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra), Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle (Festival 2004) and Tippett's oratorio, A Child of Our Time (Festival 2005).  In May 2006 the choir joined the National Philharmonic Choir and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in the National Concert Hall for a Lyric FM concert of cinema choral classics ranging from Amadeus to The Lion King. In October of that year the choir performed The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins with Madrigallery (Waterford) and the Orchestra of St Cecilia. In the 2007 Opera Festival the singers performed Haydn's oratorio, The Creation.
June 2008 saw Wexford Festival Singers, along with Gorey Choral Group, Enniscorthy Choral Society and the traditional a cappella group Whisht, perform the première of Harbouring by Belfast composer Ian Wilson. Accompanied by the Irish Chamber Orchestra and accordion player Dermot Dunne, this was a major new work inspired by the theme of Harbour and commissioned by Wexford County Council's Per Cent for Art Music Commission scheme. WFS will sing Carmina Burana by Carl Orff in the 2008 Opera Festival. |
