Aisling Fitzgerald: ‘We are at crucial period in the arts’

Long-time collaborator with the Cork Opera House, Aisling Fitzgerald, has been appointed its new creative producer-in-residence focusing on opera.

From Burncourt in Tipperary, Aisling is commuting to work, enjoying living in the countryside and working in her “artistic soul home”.

“I’ve always resonated with Cork even though I’m from Tipperary. I have the best of both worlds,” she said.

Aisling spent six years working at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. She spent 16 years working in stage management in London.

“I’m absolutely delighted that I spent a significant period of my professional development in London,” she said. “I came to the realisation that I wasn’t gearing myself up to a full-time career in stage management. I started listening to my own creative voice and I love being able to use my creativity in stage management. But it was a little more limited than what I wanted.

“I wanted to find a way where I could use a bit more of my musicianship and my knowledge of music, creating work myself. I needed to find a transition for that. I came back to the Cork Opera House in 2016. Eibhlín Gleeson (CEO of the venue) had started her tenure here. She had been a few years ahead of me in UCC studying music. I was invited to see if I’d work as a production stage manager for a few shows.”

Coming back from a big city like London, where Aisling garnered a lot of professional experience, meant she had to be conscious that Cork is much smaller and that “I wasn’t coming in as a big fish”.

She added: “I wanted to learn new things as well. I took some stage management jobs to reintegrate myself in Cork and Ireland as well.

“The opportunity came up to work on the opera concerts as Eibhlín had instigated the orchestra at that point.”

Aisling wasn’t always drawn to opera.

”I was introduced to stage management in theatre. Because I studied music, I would have listened to opera. But there wasn’t much opportunity to see operas in Tipperary when I was growing up.

“For me, it’s about marrying my music language and my production language. It’s a happy marriage. Having spent 16 years in stage management, I feel I’m at a level where I understand the work of my peers much more substantially, especially from a production point of view and from a logistical point of view.”

Paying attention to her own musicianship, Aisling feels fulfilled that she is involved in work that is multi-disciplinary while relying on music as a conduit and relying on her own production capacity.

“This brings it to a point where all the collaborative work of the artists is coming together from so many disciplines in the arts.”

Alongside her work at Cork Opera House, Aisling has produced the Towers and Tales Children’s Book Festival at Lismore Castle and was appointed producing facilitator and mentor for the MA in arts management and creative producing at UCC in 2019.

She has most recently worked on The Cork Proms, which saw five concerts merging orchestral arrangements with contemporary pop music and musical theatre. She is currently working with Cork Opera House on an operatic production of Hansel and Gretel as part of the venue’s 170th anniversary celebrations. It will be staged in August.

Aisling says her new role is very much that of an advisory capacity.

“It’s to acknowledge the work that has been done over the last 10 years, especially in developing opera and opera audiences, and seeing how to build on that. I’m working alongside Eibhlín.

“In terms of the artistic development of the organisation, it’s very much concentrated on opera and continuing my work with the orchestra and producing several of the concerts.”

After UCC, Aisling went to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff where she did post graduate studies and stage management.

In terms of practical learning, Aisling says the Opera House was very much her learning ground.

“I came in here quite by accident. A Bryan Flynn production of Jesus Christ Superstar – The Musical was transferring from the Honan Chapel at UCC to the Cork Opera House. I was asked to help. I discovered I was an assistant stage manager by looking at the programme for the musical which had my name on it. I learned from everyone. I knew I wanted to work in music. Opera is the largest (genre) in terms of production size and the number of disciplines involved. At the time, there had been a number of very successful, albeit short term, opera companies in Cork. I knew I’d have to work in the UK and to do that, you need a qualification in stage management. So I trained in that in Cardiff.”

Of about her Opera House appointment, Aisling says: “I believe we are at a crucial period in the evolution of Irish arts and its operatic landscape where we have seen the trajectory of both Irish opera and opera in Ireland (both at home and internationally).”

Aisling is excited to be in “a momentous period in the Irish cultural landscape where an opportunity to work and develop in opera, in Ireland, is a reality and therefore solidifies my creative and professional aims.”

Eibhlín says that Aisling “has been a huge asset to Cork Opera House over the years and part of many successful productions as part of our artistic programme here.

“She will work closely with me in developing our plans for the production of opera at Cork Opera House, something we have been doing successfully for 10 years now.”