Press release

« Bringing institutions and individuals together enables a vital bond to be formed, universal factors to be linked and methods and ideas to be pooled. This coming together also enables us to benefit from the great wealth of diversity on this new map. By gradually growing networks, the natural field of action for every institution and individual expands significantly. » Emilie Delorme, General Manager of enoa

BETWEEN 2010 ET 2020, the enoa network will have:

supported more than 1500 artists—including more than 100 composers, 170 directors, and 30 authors and librettists—thanks to: 
> 172 technical training and reflection workshops
> 46 experimental laboratories
> 17 productions and
> 27 tailor-made residencies

and helped 16 coproductions see the light of day, including 11 world premieres:

• Acis et Galatée, G.F. Handel (2011)
• Les Mamelles de Tirésias, F. Poulenc (2012)
• Elena, F. Cavalli (2013)
• The House Taken Over, V. Mendonça (2013 – world premiere)
• Trauernacht, based on Bach’s cantatas (2014)
• L’Autre Hiver, D. Pauwels (2015 – world premiere)
• Be With Me Now, D. Janssens, V. Mendonça (2015 – world premiere)
• Phone Call to Hades, C. van Eck (2016 – world premiere)
• Menuet, D. Janssens (2017 – world premiere)
• Erismena, F. Cavalli (2017)
• Il était une fois…La Flûte enchantée, A. Seara based on W.A Mozart (2017 – world premiere)
• I c o n, F. Neyrinck (2018 – world premiere)
• The Sleeping Thousand, A. Maor (2019 – world premiere)
• Be My Superstar, Š. Voseček (2019 – world premiere)
• Le Silence des ombres, B. Attahir (2019 – world premiere)
• A Song for the Moon, M. Wantenaar (2020 – world premiere)

TWO ACTIVITY PROGRAMMES WITH 50% OF THEIR GLOBAL BUDGET 
FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
2011–2016: 2.5 million euros in grants as part of the Culture programme
2016–2020: 2 million euros in grants as part of the Creative Europe programme

TOP-QUALITY TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND REFLECTION WORKSHOPS

Delivered by renowned artists and lecturers, enoa workshops cover a wide range of topics. They are aimed at various opera careers (for performers and creators) and take the form of skill-acquisition and technique-improving workshops, and reflection workshops that address issues facing opera creation today.

Conducted by prestigious mentors such as:
Klaus Bertisch, Stefan Bläske, Willem Bruls, Stéphane Degout, Claudio Desderi, Pascal Dusapin, Susanna Eken, Julia Faulkner, Bernarda Fink, Raúl Giménez, Leah Hausman, Anthony Heidweiller, Dietrich Henschel, Nico Hümpel, Angelika Kirchschlager, Topi Lehtipuu, Katie Mitchell, Antonio Pappano, Ruggero Raimondi, Carlo Rizzi, Neil Shicoff, Fabio Vacchi, Michel van der Aa, Ching-Lien Wu…

« I am very lucky to have participated in several enoa workshops in the past. These have greatly enriched my working practice and made significant contributions to my skill set, as well as introducing me to many new collaborators. » Fxxx Bxxxxx, writer and stage director

The Art of the Recital – session 4
Snape Maltings © Fay Jennett

Workshops cycle for conductors – session 3
Calouste Gulbenkian Foudantion © Márcia Lessa

Experimentation Space workshop  
Theaterakademie August Everding © Jean-Marc Turmes
 

Sharing skills to offer top-level workshops.

Example: a series of workshops for conductors, co-organized by three member institutions.

In May 2017, the enoa network launched a series of workshops for young conductors led by the artist Carlo Rizzi. For three months, the seven conductors selected for the programme participated in three training sessions directed by Carlo Rizzi, which were located successively at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (Waterloo, Belgium), the Dutch National Opera (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon, Portugal). This series ended in a concert with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, given on 8 July 2017 at the Auditorium of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Session 1 – Conducting soloists

Session 2 – Chorus conducting

Session 3 – Orchestra conducting

Creating the ideal conditions to produce new opera projects.

Example: a series of reflection and experimental workshops on opera creation for young audiences.

In 2017, La Monnaie / De Munt (Brussels) and LOD muziektheater (Ghent) partnered to offer a series of two workshops around the theme of “creating for young audiences.” After a first session of reflection in Brussels, the 16 participants began creating their concept during a second session organised in Ghent, which ended with an open session to present their projects before a group of professionals.

• Be My Superstar, a new immersive opera—created by director Alexandra Lacroix with music by Šimon Voseček—emerged from this series of workshops. It will be performed as a world premiere on 14 August 2019 at Studio LOD in Ghent.
• A Song for the Moon, an opera for children by Mathilde Wantenaar (composer) and Béatrice Lachaussée (director), will premiere at the Dutch National Opera & Ballet in March 2020, and was also the result of this series.
  
  
  « One of the obligations of the makers is to create opera and music theatre that opens-up the imagination of children. Music is a very important element you can use for that because it immediately touches you in the deepest emotions. Artists must create a language where children can widen their perspective in a rational and emotional way. » Willem Bruls, a playwright and mentor of this series, on creating for young audiences.

© Michiel Devijver       

SUPPORTING THE PROCESS OF CREATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW OPERA PROJECTS 

Through its Young Opera Makers programme, begun in May 2016 with the support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, the enoa network proposes experimental workshops (LABs) for young creative teams united around a specific project. The goal of these laboratories is to offer participants the space and the physical and human resources necessary to develop and test their artistic concepts. 

Example: Like Flesh, a chamber opera project developed by author and librettist Cordelia Lynn and composer Silvan Eldar.
In July and October 2018, Snape Maltings welcomed the creative team of Like Flesh for two experimental LABs focused on the potential of movement as a dramatic language.  

For the developmental phase, Cordelia Lynn and Sivan Eldar were joined by director Joseph Alford, soprano Juliet Fraser, vocal and movement artist Elaine Mitchener, and actress Carolina Valdés.

Episode 1 / The starting point: love and transformation

Episode 2 / Experimentation and Creative creativity

RECENT SUCCESS STORIES, MADE IN ENOA

World premiere of i c o n on 14 November 2018 at the NEXT Festival in Kortrijk
In June 2015, French writer Sabryna Pierre met Belgian composer Frederik Neyrinck during the Opera Creation Workshop of the Académie du Festival d’Aix, as part of the programme of activities offered by the enoa network. Wishing to work and create together, they participated in a second reflection workshop at LOD muziektheater (Ghent) centred around the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and led by playwright Martin Crump and composer and pianist Nicholas McNair. Based on this myth and on the story of the Inconnue de la Seine, they began creating i c o n, and were joined by the artistic tandem Steve Salembier and Charlotte Bouckaert (Atelier Bildraum). With the support of enoa, they were offered a series of experimental laboratories—in music, theatre, drama and technique—led by experienced artists (Jeanne Candel, Bart Capelle and Stephen Plaice) in Luxembourg, Ghent and Aldeburgh.

World premiere of The Sleeping Thousand on 6 July 2019 at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
The  Sleeping Thousand, the first opera by Israeli composer Adam Maor and by author and director Yonatan Levy, was co-commissioned by the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and coproduced by six members of the network. Beginning in 2016, it benefited from the support of enoa’s creative development programme, thanks to which Adam Maor and Yonatan Levy were offered an initial experimental laboratory at the Helsinki Festival, followed by a second laboratory in Snape Maltings (Aldeburgh) focused on writing the libretto. They were joined by conductor Elena Schwarz and by the United Instruments of Lucilin during a third laboratory, organised by the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg in June 2018.

© Patrick Berger / ArtComPress

« The Sleeping Thousand, the first opera by Israeli composer Adam Maor (born in 1983 in Haifa), which premiered in the afternoon of July 6 at the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, left a lasting impression. Its unique, alluring and provocative universe mixes political fable, philosophical tale and parabolic fiction, centered around the insoluble Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » 11 July 2019, Marie-Aude Roux - LE MONDE

SEEN IN THE EUROPEAN PRESS

« A number of initiatives have been set up to try and bridge this gap between study and work, one of the most useful being the European Network of Opera Academies. » Hannah Beynon, May 2014 – CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE

« Five years ago, just as the global economic crisis struck and the idea of a strong, unified Europe looked decidedly shaky, a group of European opera houses and cultural institutions put their heads together to reinforce shared heritage and values. » Ashutosh Khandekar, November 2015 – OPERA NOW

« A opera faz parte do carácter da Europa. Bem – haja a enoa – a rede europeia de “academias” de ópera – por estimular a formação e treino dos seus criadores. » Jorge Calado, June 2015 – EXPRESSO

« Główną wartością warszawskiego teatru dla międzynarodowego świata opery jest otwartość na współpracę. Większość spektakli w TWON to koprodukcje ze scenami operowymi w różnych miastach Europy: w tym sezonie to Praga, Oslo, Sztokholm, Turyn, Dijon, Berlin oraz festiwal w Aix-en-Provence.  Kontakt ze światem jest jeszcze bliższy, odkąd zaistniała tu Akademia Operowa, program kształcenia młodych talentów działający w ramach ENOA (European Network of Opera Academies), dzięki któremu niejeden już polski solista zasilił światowe sceny. » Dorota Szwarcman, April 2019 – POLITYKA

« (…) enoa, une plateforme qui soutient les jeunes créateurs du secteur, financée à hauteur de 2 millions d’euros, pour la période de 2016-2020, par le programme Creative Europe de la Commission européenne et qui fédère 13 maisons d’opéra et de théâtre musical. » Xavier Flament, May 2019 – L’ECHOS

« Très forte impression que celle laissée par Les Mille Endormis, premier opéra du compositeur israélien Adam Maor (né en 1983, à Haïfa), créé dans l’après-midi du 6 juillet au Théâtre du Jeu de Paume. (…) Tous [les artistes] ont été étroitement associés au projet soutenu par le réseau enoa (European network of opera academies), des premières séances de travail à Helsinki, en 2016, puis à Aldeburgh (Angleterre) et au Luxembourg, avant la création aixoise, laquelle partira en tournée au Portugal, en Belgique et en Finlande. »  Marie-Aude Roux, July 2019 –  LE MONDE                       

Website www.enoa-community.com

Facebook  @enoa.community

Instagram  @enoa_community

Twitter  @enoacommunity

Linkedin  @european-network-of-opera-academies

Youtube www.youtube.com/user/ENOAmedia

Contact
Sophie Meicler
Communication and press officer
press@enoa-community.com