Jazz legends set for return to Opera House stage after 3-year gap

Cork Opera House is set to swing and jive to the sounds of top jazz acts for the first time in three years as it takes centre stage again for this year’s jazz festival.

It follows the ending of a sponsorship deal between the theatre and brewing giant Heineken which has, since 2009, effectively prevented the theatre from staging acts as part of the Guinness-sponsored Cork Jazz Festival.

Now that the three-year deal has expired, the 920-seat theatre is considered an ‘open house’, clearing the way for it to once again become one of the main jazz festival venues.

Rory Sheridan, head of sponsorship for Diageo in Western Europe, said: “We are delighted to be back in business and programming core jazz acts with Cork’s premier music venue.

“It allows us to have a bigger capacity at our disposal. We have been developing a great relationship with the team at the Opera House over the last year and we are delighted to have them back on board.”

This year’s event will run over the October bank holiday weekend, from Oct 26-29, contributing an estimated €6m to the local economy.

Guinness has sponsored the festival for 30 years and Cork Opera House has, in previous years, hosted jazz legends such as Acker Bilke, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie.

This year’s headline acts are expected to be announced within three weeks.

The Gresham Metropole will as usual host the main festival club, with four stages and over 25 gigs.

Cork Opera House, the Everyman Palace Theatre, Triskel Christchurch and the Triskel Auditorium will be the city centre’s other main jazz venues, with dozens of pubs involved in a music trail, and the regular fringe events in Kinsale and Blarney.

Meanwhile, Cork Opera House will hold its AGM tomorrow. While the venue is expected to post another deficit, there is expected to be some good news in the accounts, with an increase in funding from the Arts Council and a new €174,000 grant for an opera next year.

The theatre was forced to close its doors for three months over the summer of 2010 because of a financial crisis.

But smash-hit The Sound of Music, which played to 25,000 people in recent weeks, has helped put the theatre on a more sound financial footing.

However, Opera House chief executive Mary Hickson has warned against complacency.

“We need to secure other funding, from sources other than the city council and the Arts Council. And we need to attract corporate business partners,” she said.