The European Commission has renewed its commitment to Opera Europa and its flagship streaming platform OperaVision, with a 2,8 million euro grant for a four-year period from 2025 to 2028.
This is the largest grant ever given to Opera Europa since it began its streaming activities in 2015, at the time with a large-scale cooperation project from the EC’s Creative Europe programme with 15 partner opera houses. The new grant also comes from Creative Europe but for the first time the funding is awarded by the EC’s European Platforms for Emerging Artists programme. And instead of 15 partners for this next phase, Opera Europa has grown its consortium to 44 organisations from 17 countries, which are listed below.
Entitled Opera Europa Next Generation (OENG), this initiative offers a multi-faceted means to respond to the needs of Emerging Artists (EA) working in opera and dance in Europe today. Opera Europa defines EA as performers or creative artists who are currently either: in postgraduate study; engaged in a young artists programme; have had their first professional engagement as solo performers/members of a creative team within the last 5 years; or have been finalists in a competition in the last 3 years. From 2025 to 2028, over 140 EA will benefit each year from an unprecedented programme of support, training and promotion.
The consortium has identified that these Emerging Artists need three things:
■ an effective means to connect them worldwide with professionals and audiences;
■ resilience tools to prepare them to enter the work market and sustain a career;
■ a better understanding of their roles as artists to engage with contemporary society in an evolving Europe.
From January 2025, the Opera Europa consortium of opera houses and specialist talent development organisations will launch a programme of onsite and online means to support, train and promote over 560 EA over 4 years. OENG offers its EA work and visibility through auditions, competitions and the commitment of its members to give them opportunities to appear on OperaVision (OV). While maintaining its weekly online programme of new full-length performances from across Europe and beyond – globally appreciated by audiences in their tens of thousands every day – OV will enhance its role as EA-focused tool by featuring special streams (productions, concerts, competitions, masterclasses) from these 44 contributors. EA will benefit from a programme of onsite and online training. EA will shape a new European space (online, on social media and in meetings) to foster understanding and drive change through the arts. Enhancements to Operabook will play a key part in giving opportunities and visibility to EA.
With this EC support, Opera Europa’s ambition is to enhance the prospects of the next generation of Emerging Artists; European ambassadors in the making.
Opera Europa Next Generation Platform Members
Belgium
Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie/De Munt
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
Croatia
Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb
Czech Republic
Národní divadlo Brno
Finland
Finnish National Opera and Ballet
France
Théâtre National de l’Opéra-Comique
Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie
Opéra national du Rhin
Opéra national de Paris
Génération Opéra
Germany
Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg
Nationaltheater Mannheim
Rossini in Wildbad
Liz Mohn Stiftung (Neue Stimmen Competition)
Opernstudio North Rhine-Westphalia
Hungary
Hungarian State Opera
Ireland
Irish National Opera
Wexford Festival Opera
Italy
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Rossini Opera Festival
Fondazione Mascarade Opera
Opera for Peace
Teatro Regio Torino
Lithuania
Lithuanian National Opera
Klaipeda State Music Theatre
Netherlands
Dutch National Opera and Ballet
’s-Hertogenbosch (IVC) Singing Competition
O Festival
Norway
Queen Sonja Singing Competition
Norwegian National Opera and Ballet
Poland
Poznań Opera House
Polish National Opera
Slovakia
Slovak National Theatre
Spain
Teatro Real
Grand Teatre del Liceu
Palau de les Arts Valencia
Festival de Peralada
Sweden
Royal Swedish Opera
Ukraine
Kyiv National Operetta Theatre
Dniprovsky Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet
Odessa National Opera
Lviv National Opera
Open Opera Ukraine
