World Opera Day is an occasion to share the joy with all people.
The initiative of World Opera Day is the result of shared discussions between members of OPERA America, Ópera Latinoamérica and Opera Europa, and representatives of the opera field from the rest of the world, at the first World Opera Forum hosted by Teatro Real Madrid in April 2018. World Opera Day is an awareness campaign of the positive impact and value of Opera for society. Opera as well as the arts contributes to developing tolerance and understanding, opening minds, and getting people in touch with strong universal emotions. Just as much as sport shapes a healthy body, the arts shape a healthy mind.
We aspire to a culture which is both local and global. It must belong to and be inclusive of all those within its community. At the same time, it must embrace a diverse but connected world. Opera is an international language, and its stories reflect the values of freedom and tolerance.
World Opera Day is celebrated on 25 October, the birthday of Georges Bizet and Johann Strauss II, composers of possibly the world’s most famous opera and operetta.
The recognition of a common need and desire for advocacy for the arts in general, and opera in particular, led the three organisations – OPERA America, Ópera Latinoamérica and Opera Europa – to join forces to launch a first World Opera Day; but they count on the support of numerous partners in doing so. National Opera organisations, such as Association for Opera in Canada (Canada), Réunion des Opéras de France (France), Deutscher Bühnenverien (DE), Association for Music Theatre Russia, Ópera XXI (Spain) and Opera & Music Theatre Forum (UK) and Opera UK have already committed to take part in this campaign as have the National Centres for Performing Arts in China and India.
Find more information on our dedicated website www.worldoperaday.com.