Music for Galway and Galway 2020 present
Paper Boat: An Opera for Galway
in association with Irish National Opera

“To the people of Galway, famed for your welcome, your endurance of siege and famine, I beg for sanctuary.”

Take your place among Galway’s musical tribes for a dramatic celebration of 700 years of St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, and the people who give it life.

With a libretto written by Jessica Traynor and music by Elaine Agnew, the community opera Paper Boat weaves together history, mythology and current events to tell a story of human endurance, inspired by the diverse communities who engage with the cultural and spiritual hub that is St Nicholas’.

Join a cast of over 100 singers and musicians for the world premiere concert performance of this unmissable Galway opera.

Performance duration: c. 70 minutes

Doors open 40 minutes before the performance.

***

Elaine Agnew, Composer
Jessica Traynor, Libretto
Mark Duley, Artistic Advisor/Chorus Director
Sinead Hayes, Conductor

Cast
Gemma Ní Bhriain, Mother
Bríd Ní Ghruagáin, fFrench
Rory Dunne, Young Man
Brendan Collins, Lynch

Paper Boat Ensemble
Athenry Music School String Ensemble
Coole Music and Arts Young String Ensemble
St Patrick’s Brass Band
Collegium
Choristers of St Nicholas Schola Cantorum
Coole Harmonies and Guests
St. Jarlath’s College & Scoil Bhríde, Tuam

Tickets: €10–€25

Concert tickets also give access to I Claim Sanctuary by artist Philip Fogarty, a newly commissioned site specific sound installation for St. Nicholas’, inspired by Paper Boat