DCU's John O'Flynn celebrated the 20th Society for Musicology in Ireland Symposium

Musicologists who recently came to the National Opera House from far and near for a special occasion have been extolling both the welcome they received and the civic pride on display in Wexford.

The Society for Musicology in Ireland (SMI) recently hosted a symposium at the National Opera House titled ‘Music for Stage and Screen’. This was a special gathering to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our Society, a registered charity that organises annual conferences, promotes publications and supports other music scholars across the island. SMI also actively raises public awareness of music research and champions the place of music in higher education. We really needed a special location for our 20th anniversary – and the National Opera House and the town of Wexford proved to be just that!

Over the two days of the symposium, delegates were treated to a diverse programme of over 20 talks on various aspects of music for theatre, film music and opera. The topics included the ‘Irish’ operas of Charles Villiers Stanford, the national folk theatre of Siamsa Tíre in Kerry, and soundtracks to contemporary TV series such as Succession and The Good Fight. Those in attendance included music and media scholars from the four corners of Ireland, keynote speaker, Professor Peter Franklin of Oxford University, and the presidents of SMI’s equivalent societies in the UK and Netherlands who travelled to join us for the weekend celebrations.

They were warmly welcomed by National Opera House staff, by Wexford Festival Opera and by Paul Cleary on behalf of Wexford Festival Trust, with further support provided by their friends at County Wexford School of Music. Not only that, but delegates experienced the amazing support of local volunteers who exhibited the kind of team spirit and civic pride of which Wexford should be truly proud.

Those who had not been to the National Opera House before remarked on the ‘Tardis-like’ experience of walking up the modest yet elegant High Street, only to find a world-class modern opera house open up behind the street façade. The symposium itself took place in the beautifully proportioned and expertly equipped Jerome Hynes Theatre, but delegates were also awed by the views from the rooftop restaurant, and by the tour of the mainstage O’Reilly Theatre, kindly given by expert local guide Rosemary Hartigan.

The weekend was also a wonderful opportunity to establish a collaboration between the Festival and SMI, and a highlight in this regard was a session in which Karina Daly, author of The History of Wexford Festival Opera and Board Member of Wexford Festival Trust was interviewed by Wolfgang Marx on behalf of SMI. Other highlights were the special Friday evening recital given by Aisling Kenny (soprano) and Una Hunt (piano), and Peter Franklin’s stimulating keynote address that invited us to use ‘our inner eye’ and think cinematically when listening to symphonic music by Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and others who were composing just as silent and later sound film emerged in the 20th century.

On a personal note, John O'Flynn was particularly excited that SMI could celebrate its 20th anniversary in a town that has been dear to him since childhood, and especially that the symposium could be associated with its unique festival that he has attended for some decades now (In 2001 he was the artistic director and conductor for The Raven King – a community opera for professionals and children staged both in Limerick and at Clonard Community Centre, to mark the Festival’s 50th anniversary).

For the Society for Musicology in Ireland, the weekend in Wexford is a treasured memory, and he looks forward to other occasions there, as well as further collaborations with the opera festival and with other music and cultural initiatives in the town and county.

John O’Flynn is President of the Society for Musicology in Ireland, and is a Professor of Music at Dublin City University.