Support Our Artists: Sound Engineer Vinny Osborne

The Civic Theatre in Tallaght is giving grants to people across the cultural sector who have lost work due to the Covid-19 crisis – you can make a donation to the Artist Emergency Relief Fund here. 

In the coming days, the recipients of Artist Emergency Relief Fund grants will explain, in their own words, what they do and exactly why the grant scheme offers essential support for the nation’s artists.

Today, meet sound engineer Vinny Osbourne…

My name is Vinny Osborne, and I’m a freelance sound engineer who specialises in musical theatre and corporate events.

Since the gathering shutdown on March 12th my career & my world has been shaken like never before. My work is quite seasonal with its peak in the months of March & April – I had a very full diary, with all the days of those months being completely booked out.

https://twitter.com/VinnyOsborne/status/1233573575224963073?s=20

With one speech by the government, all my work came to an abrupt end. Nothing short of contracting the virus myself could of been more devastating. I am a husband & a father of two. I have the only income coming into our home. It is uncertain when we will be back up and running, and I am currently looking for other work to tied us by, but bills still have to be paid so this is an unbelievably worrying time.

The Civic Theatre, under no pressure from anyone, took it amongst themselves to help raise funds for artists and theatre professionals like myself. I was very fortunate to receive one of their very first grants, and it will give us a little bit of breathing space. It was more appreciated than anyone will ever realise.

I love my job and the people I work with. I cannot imagine doing anything else. It’s as much a vocation as it is a profession, and in times like this you really appreciate the strong network of colleagues that I have built up over my many years in the industry.

Find out more about the Artist Emergency Relief Fund here.

This article was originally published on RTE Culture see: https://www.rte.ie/culture/2020/0325/1126297-support-our-artists-sound-engineer-vinny-osborne/