Jerome Hynes

Jerome Hynes, Chief Executive of Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland, died suddenly on Sunday 18 September 2005, aged 45, whilst making an announcement on the stage of Wexford's Theatre Royal during a reception.

Born in Ballymote, County Sligo, on 30 September 1959, Hynes joined Wexford Festival Opera in 1987, and has since then been the driving force behind the company's development. He was appointed Deputy Chairman to the Arts Council in 2003, and was a member of the Board of the National Concert Hall.

Hynes' death comes just a few weeks before the opening of the 2005 Festival on Thursday 20 October.

'Jerome was unique', stated Wexford's Chairman, Paul Hennessy. 'His commitment to Wexford Festival was absolute and total. He provided the organisation with exemplary leadership during the past eighteen years, and his contribution to Opera and the Arts in Ireland has been enormous.'

'We have lost a friend, a colleague, and a champion and we will miss him deeply, but our thoughts and prayers are foremost with his wife Alma, and his sons Conor, Feargal and Robbie and his family at this difficult time.'

Information: www.classicalmusicdaily.com/articles/h/j/jerome-hynes.htm

Posted: 24 September 2005

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