It was the fifth edition of World Opera Day and global social media engagement was higher than ever!
This year, Opera Europa’s campaign revolved around data on the opera sector, which we published as a statement basing on the result of our 2023 member survey. Extrapolating the numbers of the survey, we found out that for year 2022, the European opera industry represented close to 10 billion Euros, employing around 200.000 people. Over 20.000 performances of some 3.500 productions of over 1.000 titles were staged in large and small theatres, in outdoor and fringe venues, catering to over 13 million people of which 2 million were young audiences! The statement was relayed in several national and local media including RTBF (Belgium), Forum Opera (France), BergamoNews (Italy)!
Leading up to the celebration, Opera Europa prepared a visual campaign on social media with these illustrative figures of the survey, sparking excitement within the followers who shared them in their own languages.
World Opera Day was also an opportunity for opera houses to give visibility to special initiatives and underline the social value of opera.
AGIS (the national performing arts association) and Teatro dell’opera di Roma chose World Opera Day to launch a yearlong initiative in partnership with the national radio, Rai radio 3. For each performing arts day in 2024 (World Day of Italian Cinema, World Theatre Day, World Circus Day, International Dance Day, World Music Day and World Opera Day) Rai Radio 3 will organise a special programme linked to each day. On 25 October, the female chorus of Teatro dell’Opera di Roma directed by Ciro Visco offered a special programme with arias from Samson & Dalila, Carmen, Manon Lescaut and many others. We wish very good luck to this project and are looking forward to next year’s celebration!
Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla organised a full day programme in honour of World Opera Day. An eclectic musical programme including the Prototype Zero project, mixing electronic music with more traditional instruments, was proposed for free to a wide audience and ended with a party and a DJ set. Visual and urban artist Zesär Bahamonte painted a lateral wall of the theatre, offering an unusual performance to the passer-by’s.
Sofia National Opera & Ballet organised this year a special World Opera Day concert with a programme putting Johann Strauss II and Georges Bizet in the spotlight, as we celebrate their birthdays on 25 October!
Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe treated the world celebration very literally, and enjoyed…a special WOD cake with candles!
Many members, such as Teatro Regio di Parma, Den Jyske Opera, Opera Vlaanderen, or Irish National Opera shared our advocacy for opera message with their followers. A number of them, including New National Theatre Tokyo, Opéra de Paris, Theater Magdeburg, Teatro Real, Oper Leipzig, Opera Extravaganza, La Monnaie/De Munt published videos and animations specially dedicated to the event. Directors of opera houses also joined in, sharing messages of celebration to their communities like MusikTheater an der Wien, Teatro Donizetti, and Opera Krakowska. Théâtre des Champs Elysées prepared a special musical blindtest for the occasion. You can find most of them on the newly created World Opera Day facebook account!
On the other side of the Atlantic, Opera Latinoamérica also released the results of their member survey to underline the positive impact of opera within their communities. In the northern part of the continent, opera houses focussed on debunking the myths and stereotypes about opera in funny videos.
Artists worldwide embraced the spirit of World Opera Day, expressing their creativity through diverse forms of celebration. From sharing favourite arias and behind-the-scenes glimpses of days in the life of an opera singer, each artist added a unique touch.
World Opera Day's official campaign resulted in over 16,600 views on Instagram, 2,500 on Facebook, and 4,000 on X, reaching a global audience of enthusiastic celebrators. The hashtag #WorldOperaDay, boasting 15.3k followers on Instagram alone, flooded opera enthusiasts' socials with vibrant posts and videos.
Thanks to everyone's contributions, this year's World Opera Day surpassed expectations, making it a truly memorable celebration!
