The Irish opera company Opera Theatre Company has announced the appointment of a new executive team comprising an Executive Director and Artistic Director.

Rosemary Collier, previously Head of Music and Opera at the Arts Council and currently Festival Director and CEO of the Kilkenny Arts Festival, will take up the role of Executive Director in mid September. The conductor Fergus Sheil, whose own production company Wide Open Music staged Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde last year, will take up the role of Artistic Director at the end of September.

The appointments come after what OTC describes as ‘an extensive review of [OTC’s] operations’. Virginia Kerr, Chairperson for the company said the company was ‘delighted to have secured two extremely experienced and highly regarded candidates to lead Opera Theatre Company into its next phase of development’.

Sheil said that OTC had helped launch his own career, as well as the careers of many others. ‘[OTC] has played a major role in demystifying opera by bringing high quality productions to audiences throughout the country,’ he said. ‘It fits perfectly with my own ambitions for opera in Ireland and I look forward to working with the OTC Board and staff, and with artists, venues, festivals and partners in the future and to connecting with existing and new audiences.’

Collier, who was credited with increasing the box office takings of Kilkenny Arts Festival by 41% as well as increasing sponsorship and donations by 51% in less than two years, said, ‘OTC has been a dynamic force for opera in Ireland over the years and I’m really excited about working with Fergus, the staff and Board of OTC to lead the company through its next phase of development and to bring inspiring opera to audiences across the country.’