Theatre closures and travel restrictions have not curtailed members’ need to communicate, and a full programme of meetings has continued into this year. For now and the immediate future, such meetings are online. We expect that to continue after Easter, but look forward to a cautious return to live events during the course of the summer.
In January, we held three well-attended brainstorming sessions around the three themes of the Next Stage initiative: Sustainability; Equality; and Digital Transformation. Following those consultations, 45 member companies have registered to participate in the project, as listed in the Next Stage article.
Members of the Artistic Administration & Producing forum have been contributing to our dialogue with Artist Managers concerning contract guidelines, with a joint meeting with representatives of IAMA and OMAI on 10 March, and will convene again on 25 March please register with susanna@opera-europa.org.
The Human Resources forum met on 15 January, and will reconvene on the afternoon of 21 April, beginning at 14:00 CET please register with susanna@opera-europa.org.
The Fundraising steering group met on 5 March and is planning ahead for a meeting during Opera Europa’s online spring conference on 21 May to discuss strategies for the coming seasons and successful donor recruitments during lockdown.
The Marketing & Communications forum met on 4 February. They aim to refresh and expand their steering group prior to reconvening at the start of next season.
The Technical & Production forum held an informative meeting on 24 February about filming opera onstage, and will meet again on 31 March to discuss staff motivation and development, please register with audrey@opera-europa.org.
The separately active TechSet group discussed European tendering for set building in January and shared the OSCaR sustainability project on 15 February. They will meet again in the spring and plan a live meeting to drive forward the sustainability agenda, potentially in Macerata in mid-July. Further details to come.
The Costumes, Make-up & Wigs forum held its annual gathering on 3 March. They will organise some more practical sessions during the spring.
The Audio-visual & Digital Media forum participated in last month’s TP forum and met again to explore short-form and made-for-digital content on 11March.
The Education forum is meeting on 26 March at 11:00 CET on the topic: Adapting to the digital world – exploring solutions to the challenges presented when delivering Education activity over the internet, please register with celia@opera-europa.org.
Further to meeting on 22 January, our group of Independent Producers ( see manifesto ) wish to start a dynamic of co-production with opera houses and festivals by inviting a selection of them to a joint call, and seek to work together with other forums.
The recently formed Chorus Managers forum meets on 16 April to discuss current production issues, please register with susanna@opera-europa.org.