Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist Award

Danone Ireland today announced Leah Redmond as the recipient of the 2022 Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist award. The award, which is in its second year, is part of the company’s long-standing support of Wexford Festival Opera.

The award is given to a young female artist performing at the Wexford Festival Opera to support their career endeavours. Building on its long-term sponsorship, the Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist Award is part of Danone’s continued partnership with Wexford Festival Opera which began in 2010. The partnership also sees Danone support a main stage production each year, this year Danone is supporting the Festival’s French opera, Lalla Roukh.

Executive Director of Wexford Festival Opera, Randall Shannon, said: “We are very grateful to Danone for their continued support and commitment to Wexford Festival Opera. Their support has been integral to some of our most celebrated productions over the years, including the much-anticipated Lalla Roukh in this year's programme. The Danone Award allows us to celebrate and support rising young stars within our programme and in partnership with Danone, invest in the future of the arts in Ireland."

Danone has strong links to Wexford, employing over 350 people at its Supply Point in Wexford Town, many of which support and volunteer with the annual Festival. Speaking about the sponsorship, Danone Ireland’s Factory Director in Wexford, Jean-Francois Cournil, said: “Championing people and their talents is important to Danone, and this award is an expression of that. We would like to congratulate Leah as the well deserved recipient of the Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist Award. This award strengthens our partnership with the Wexford Festival Opera, an association Danone and our people are particularly proud of.”

The recipient of this year’s award, Leah Redmond is a rising talent on the Irish operatic scene. As a member of the Wexford Factory, the Festival’s academy for young Irish and Irish based artists, she will perform the role of Griselda in the Wexford Factory Pocket Opera, Cinderella, at this year’s Festival. Speaking of the award, Leah said “It is truly such an honour to be selected as the Danone Young Outstanding Female Artist of the Year 2022. This bursary will allow me to take the important next steps of my career for which I’m hugely grateful. My experience at the Wexford Festival has been more than I could have imagined; to be surrounded by such wonderful colleagues and to learn from some of the greatest artists, coaches and directors in the industry has been such a privilege.”

Photo Patrick Browne