Music

Your opera company needs you

16:00 pm on 22 February 2024

Listen to Frances Moore talk with RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump

This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

Your kind of opera? Or did you have something else in mind? Opera NZ's recent production of Ihitai’Avei’a – Star Navigator. Photo: Stephen A'Court

Opera NZ is running a forum aimed at gathering budding opera creators into one room for a week and seeing what magic may transpire.

NZ Opera Participation Officer, Frances Moore, says the forum aims to create a space for story-telling creatives in Aotearoa to consider the essential steps required before starting new opera projects.

It's aimed at both composers and librettists.

Frances Moore Photo: Supplied

Speaking to RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump, Moore says the forum is aimed more at those who already have an idea for a music-based drama in embryonic form, but she wants to spread the net as wide as possible.

Also participating are two of the more successful creatives in UK opera at the moment. Jonathan Dove and Alasdair Middleton are composer and librettist respectively of the Jane Austen-inspired Mansfield Park, which NZ Opera is performing in April.

Anyone interested in the New Opera Forum is welcome to get in touch with expressions of interest by emailing Frances Moore at participation@nzopera.co.nz