An aspiring professional conductor is being sought for an orchestra which plays not only in concert halls, but also in local community halls and churches.
The Wexford Sinfonia is a rare phenomenon, a thriving, 60-piece rural amateur orchestra which performs two programmes a year of works drawn from the standard repertoire. Its conductor, Fergus Shiel, will be leaving to become chorus master with the Scottish Opera in Glasgow.
Fergus, who has also worked with the DGOS and conducts the Dublin Orchestral Players, has been with the sinfonia since it was formed by a small group of dedicated musicians five years ago and began with a chamber music evening twice a month in the Wexford School of Music building.
The Sinfonia's p.r.o., Anne McLeod, said: "It's about bringing really serious high-quality classical music to places which otherwise wouldn't hear it. The logistics of getting 60 people, their instruments and their music to some of these places at night-time is quite daunting."
Its members travel from various parts of Wexford, Waterford, Wicklow, Kilkenny and Carlow, and even from the outskirts of Dublin. They include music-teachers, advanced students and people who had at one time learned to play an instrument but lapsed.
It takes a lot of motivation to keep such a geographically and musically diverse group involved.
"The morale and the social atmosphere are very important," Anne McLeod says. "It's not like a professional group. The rehearsals have got to be fun as well as musically productive. The musical director has got to be someone who can provide both personality and drive.
"The range of expertise in the orchestra is very wide, and that's another challenge for the conductor, to keep them all together. It's quite an onerous position.
"Fergus has been with the sinfonia from the start, and we are going to miss him. He had developed with us. He knows exactly how far to push amateurs. We're looking for all these qualities in a successor."
The orchestra has provided a platform for many up-and-coming soloists. It has some competent first violinists, while some of the second violins are relatively young and have never played in an orchestra before.
The orchestra members all pay subscriptions; it receives some local authority funding and enjoys sponsorship from Celtic Linen, and it is happy to earn just enough from its concerts to keep the performances going. "We just slightly more than break even," says Ms McLeod. "For us the real satisfaction is in playing something really well. We would hope to get better, to improve in our musicality and technical skills."
As well as seeking a replacement musical director, the sinfonia is always on the lookout for strong players, especially violinists. Aspirants should contact the secretary, Ruth Miller, (053) 58849, or registrar, Geraldine Mahon, at (053) 58150.
A week of fine classical music by performers from around the globe is drawing to a close in Waterford. The International Masterclass Festival, taking place in the city for the third year running, drew enthusiastic audiences to a series of concerts and public master classes given by musicians on the brink of their international performing careers. There is a closing gala concert at Christ Church Cathedral in Waterford tomorrow night at 8 p.m.