Irish Opera and an Irish Opera Archive

Irish people at home and throughout the world are justifiably proud of Ireland’s rich cultural heritage. Yet one rich and important aspect of Irish culture remains largely unknown, undervalued and relatively uncelebrated, both nationally and internationally.
 
We know, we value and we celebrate our heritage of poets, novelists dramatists and painters, we are also proud of our unique traditional music, and the Irish contribution to popular music in more recent decades.
 
Reflecting all of this, and contributing to the national and international reputation of Ireland in these fields, Ireland has a National Library, a film Archive and a theatre archive.  In the field of music, Ireland has a fine Traditional Music Archive, and a contemporary music centre which promotes and documents Irish Contemporary Music.
 
One of the significant Irish cultural gaps that Classical Arts Ireland is anxious to see addressed is the lack of a dedicated digital and physical archive of the history of the classical arts in Ireland. Such an archive should document and disseminate information on the large (and largely unknown) creative output of Irish composers over three centuries, and the rich history of performance by Irish artists and performing companies, at home and abroad. CAI is intent on seeing this archive established in Ireland in a short few years, and to making a significant contribution to its foundation.
 
CAI is currently in exploratory dialogue with a number of potential national partner institutions with a view to seeing this project realised in a sustainable manner to the highest standards in the coming years.
 
If you would like to learn more about progress on this project, or to advise CAI of the nature and location of material you think might be of interest to the Archive, please contact CAI at :admin@classicalartsireland.com – quoting ‘Archive project’.