Find out what the members of RESEO have planned for the last few weeks of 2018 and which projects, programmes and productions will be taking them into the new year!
Glyndebourne
© James Bellorini
Glyndebourne Awards For Young Singers
Glyndebourne Academy boosts young singers with talent and opera potential but limited opportunities, preparing them for professional level training. Rising stars, Olivia Moss and Emilie Parry-Williams, are alumni of Glyndebourne Academy 2017 and were recognised this year with two Glyndebourne awards for young singers; the Gus Christie Award and the Bill Weston Award.
“Balancing the Score”, a Composition Programme For Female Composers
The first four participants in a new development scheme exclusively for female composers have been announced. Balancing the Score: supporting female composers has been launched by Glyndebourne to help address the under-representation of female composers in classical music.
The four participating composers are:
Through the scheme, the composers will spend two years immersed in life at Glyndebourne, where they will be introduced to commissioning opportunities, attend rehearsals and meet professional opera makers and performers.
Glyndebourne is also collaborating with its resident orchestras, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, as well as Philharmonia Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Southbank Centre, to provide opportunities for Balancing the Score participants.
Jean-Marc BISKUP
“Apprends moi l’Opéra” in Lavaur (South-West France)
Alongside his education activities with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc (Morocco), in 2018 Jean-Marc Biskup created the Festival international d’Opéra in Lavaur, a charming and vibrant town of 10,000 inhabitants in the Tarn region of South-West France:
“I seek to bring opera to life outside the usual circuits and with the help of many volunteers and the various services of the municipality of Lavaur. The common denominator of the Festival is “Apprends moi l’Opéra” – “Teach me about opera”. It is aimed at the general public attending an opera for the first time as well as young singers discovered at the Lavaur International Opera Voices competition, who can make their debut at the festival”.
One of the Festival’s main raisons d’être is the outreach and education programme “Apprends moi l’Opéra”. For the second edition, 30 classes and over 700 schoolchildren from every school in Lavaur and a few from the wider region will take part.
Opéra national de Paris
© Pierre Grosbois
“Merveille” by Pierre Rigal From 12 to 22 December 2018
A cry, a whisper, a word: the voice fascinates. It is a marvel. From the banalities of everyday language to the powerful presence of a chorus, Pierre Rigal explores different facet of the voice in this performance. Together, dancers and singers take the audience on a playful odyssey. Part lesson, part performance, the numerous scenes succeed one another. The scenography of the performance flirts with the codes and the limits of the vocal arts to call into question everyone’s capacity to wonder.
More details here.
Soundscapes
© Idzard Schiphof
KIRANA at the Kristen Flagstad Opera Festival
The KIRANA children’s opera project by RESEO member Ruben Zahra is part of the official programme of the Kristen Flagstad Opera Festival in Hamar (Norway). The project is conceived and designed to connect children with professional artists through a series of workshops leading to a high-profile interdisciplinary performance.
After the KIRANA performance at the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Métropole in France, music teacher Boris Ignatovic from the Jules Ferry College de Woippy stated: “… this work will help our students grow, mature and open up to art. After spending a whole week participating in the KIRANA project they returned to the school transformed and excited about the experience.”
KIRANA will be performed at the Kristen Flagstad Opera Festival in Hamar (Norway) on the 22nd of June 2019. All RESEO members are welcome to attend.
More details here.
Den Jyske Opera
A New Baby Opera for Den Jyske Opera
HjerteLyd/HeartBeat
Opera for 0- 2 ½ years by Zoë Palmer and Sam Glazer. A new commission by Den Jyske Opera.
Poetry surrounds you and all senses are evoked when you enter the space at Den Jyske Opera to discover the first Danish opera production for babies. The opera HjerteLyd (HeartBeat) is commissioned from Sam Glazer and Zoë Palmer, who for the past 6 years have created a number of shows for the early years for Spitalfields Music’s series Musical Rumpus (UK).
HjerteLyd is a poetic expedition where two singers and two musicians take the audience through landscapes of the heart. Discovering new shapes, colours, textures and relationships is at the core. Danish, English, Babble, Sanskrit and yet-to-be invented languages intertwine, symbolizing the language of the heart which consists of so much more than words.
HjerteLyd opens on January the 11th at Godsbanen, Aarhus, and will be touring for the rest of January and presented in April at the annual Danish April Festival. In the season 19.20 the show will be presented at GrowOP! Festival in Aarhus September 19th – 24h followed by a national tour. We hope also to be able to present the show internationally at festivals and as guest performances in venues around Europe.
GrowOP! Festival 2019: Sept 19th – 24th in Aarhus, Denmark
An international opera festival for children.
The GrowOP! office at Den Jyske Opera is busy developing the programme for the next Danish operafestival for children. Cross-artform performances, new formats, Danish and international shows and artists, family hands on experiences, outdoor show, opera food and much more to experience for opera lovers as well as newcomers. Professionals from the opera and dance education sector as well as artists and practitioners in the field of culture, arts and academia are invited to join us.
Please feel free to contact Birgitte Holt Nielsen at bhn@jyske-opera.dk for questions or sharing of ideas about what would attract YOU in the festival programme.
Les Talens Lyriques
© Lumento
New Version of t@lenschool Now Available!
Three free apps to discover and practice music!
These 3 music education apps have been downloadable in a new enriched version for free since December 1, 2018, for tablets and smartphones (Android and iOS) and in French and English, enabling users, including non-musicians, to put themselves in the shoes of an interpreter, instrumentalist or singer, a conductor or a composer.
They can be used:
- In the schoolroom or during workshops (pre-concert, musical awakening, musical training, music workshop, etc.)
- On one-off basis to explore musical instruments or for more in-depth sessions, individually or as a group
- With children aged 6 and up …. or older children of 106!
Each of the three applications addresses a musical approach: “Playing together”, “Composition” and “Interpretation”. They enable a playful, creative and participative approach to music.
More details here.
Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
2018 in Review
With this report, (re)discover the 2018 edition of the Festival d’Aix, the international success of its past programme, the key figures of the year but also the teams that compose the Festival and its commitments regarding the ecoconception of the sets…
Download the report here.
Opéra de Dijon
Merry Ch(o)ristmas – An English Christmas
Friday 21 December at 8pm
With the approach of Christmas, the Dijon Opera Choir and its conductor Anass Ismat invite you to a festive evening of a capella choral music for Advent. The main focus will be the Nativity in England: choral practice, whether professional or amateur, is an institution on the other side of the Channel, which has led to the creation of an immense repertoire by many of the greatest British composers.
The Dijon Opera Choir will be joined by 150 children from local childcare centres.
More details here.
Opéra Orchestre Montpellier Occitanie
A Third Game Jam Focusing on “Tristan and Isolde”
During the 2016/17 season, the Opéra launched alongside the Montpellier-based school of video games and 3D animation ARTFX a “Game Jam”: a new kind of partnership for both institutions.
The students are given 48 hours, i.e a weekend, to create video games inspired by one of the productions of the Opéra’s season. In December, the third edition of “Game Jam” was held, during which 20 video game students had 48 hours to deliver 3 gaming projects based on Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde!
Find out more about MOON FACTORY, the Opéra’s digital project hub here.
Selfmade Music
“Quilt Song”, Voices of Freedom
On 19th and 20th October 2018 Selfmade Music premiered Quilt Song, a new opera composed by Susie Self, at The Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham, UK.
The theme presented stories of ‘voices of freedom’ ranging from Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King to the British MP Jo Cox who in her maiden speech said “We have more in common than that which divides us”.
The opera was staged with a professional 13-piece instrumental ensemble and 4 opera singers. The standard of the ensemble’s singing during the performances was outstanding and a credit to their hard work over two years. The training aspect of this project facilitated a legacy for each student which consisted of an individually tailored portfolio of songs from ‘cross-over’ opera such as Sweeney Todd, Dido and Aeneas and West Side Story. Two of the singers, Hannah and Erin, are considering auditioning for the conservatoire as a result.
Another aspect of Selfmade Music’s aim to interface with the greater community of Birmingham was to make performances of Quilt Song free. This resulted in the 300 seat theatre being full on both nights, most of the audience had never been to an opera.
Opéra.3
Le Vaisseau Fantôme, a Lyrical Chamber Adventure
Compagnie Opéra.3 presented the Vaisseau Fantôme project to the public in November 2018 with a musical creation at the Orangerie de Sceaux. On stage, a group of seven musicians brought an intimate chamber approach to Wagner’s music alongside three singers in the main parts and two actresses telling the story in in French and sign language. Staging is planned at the Théâtre de Meudon for January 2020. Opera.3 is seeking partners and co-producers to produce and share the production to the greatest number.
Opera Houses, Festivals, concert halls, and professional networks are invited to contact Jeanne Debost, artistic direction, artistic@compagnie-opera3.fr, or Emanuele de Santis, in charge of distribution, admin@xviii-21.com
More information for professionals with videos and downloads here.
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
ONE OCEAN: The Global Science Opera 2018
The Global Science Opera exists at the meeting point of science and art, of pupils and scientists, of all human cultures.
Pollution respects no borders. This year, the theme of Global Science Opera (GSO) is the ocean, sustainability and climate change. Working creatively with eco-design builds awareness among students and empowers them by introducing them to tools of knowledge on how to make sustainable alternatives to more conventional polluting products. Several countries have made costumes and set from plastic waste that might otherwise have found their way into the ocean.
The opera’s production manager and PhD-student Janne Robberstad (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences), who is researching the connection between sustainability and creativity in a design-process, is happy that eco-design is being incorporated in the GSO. “It is vital that we take the climate change seriously, and that we all do what we can to make the world a good place for coming generations” she explains.
One Ocean was performed world-wide and streamed live on Dec. 12th.