Soprano Laura Aherne has been awarded the 2024 Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist award. The award, now in its fourth year, is part of the company’s long-term partnership with the Wexford Festival Opera, which commenced in 2010.
Danone introduced the Young Outstanding Female Artist award in 2021 to further strengthen the company’s long-standing sponsorship of the Wexford Festival Opera. The award includes a bursary for the chosen individual and is given to a young female artist performing at the Wexford Festival Opera to support their career endeavours.
Laura is an Irish Soprano from Kill, Co. Kildare and a graduate of the Royal College of Music, London. She is a member of the 2024/25 group of Wexford Factory, the Festival’s academy for young Irish and Irish based artists. At this year’s Festival she will appear in the Wexford Factory Concert, in the role of Nedda in the Factory Opera Pagliacci, and in the Festival’s Community Opera, The Elixir of Love.
Danone’s partnership also includes the support of a main stage production each year. This year’s production, The Critic, by Irish composer, Charles Villiers Stanford, features libretto by Richard Sheridan and is directed by Conor Hanratty. The comic opera, which has a mix of theatre, also stars the recipient of the 2023 Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist Award, Hannah O’Brien, in the role of Confidant – First Niece.
Executive Director of Wexford Festival Opera, Randall Shannon, said: ”We are delighted to announce Laura Aherne as the Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist Award recipient this year. Laura is a part of the current Wexford Factory, our academy for young Irish and Irish based singers, and is already shining through as a voice to watch over the coming years. This bursary will be a great support to Laura in the early stages of her career. We are also looking forward to welcoming past recipients Jade Phoenix and Hannah O’Brien back to the Festival this year.”
Danone employs over 350 people at its factory just outside Wexford Town, many of whom actively support and volunteer with the Festival each year. Speaking about the sponsorship, Plant Manager at Danone Wexford, Deirdre Hannon said: “We would like to congratulate Laura as the talented recipient of the Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist Award. We wish her every success in her performances at this year’s Festival and her future career. This year marks 15 years of Danone’s sponsorship of the Wexford Festival Opera, a partnership that we are incredibly proud of. This award bolsters Danone’s commitment to promote equality and support female leadership in all areas of its business. We look forward to continuing our proud tradition of championing people and their talents through our partnership with the Wexford Festival Opera.”
Speaking of the award, Laura said “I am so incredibly grateful to be the recipient of the 2024 Danone Award. Danone and Wexford Festival Opera have given me an incredible platform and opportunity to develop as an artist and singer, and this bursary will help so much in furthering my career. The opportunity to work here in Wexford with such remarkable mentors, artists, and colleagues is an honour and a pleasure only made possible by support from sponsors like Danone.”
