Independent Producers

It is impossible to imagine the history of opera without the concept of independent producing. Without alternative attitudes towards creation and production as manifested by Handel in London, Schikaneder in Vienna, or Diaghilev in Paris, to name but a few, some of the iconic works of classical repertoire would have never been realised. 
 

Just as the birth of opera took place outside of any established theatre structure (Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo), the contemporary opera creation and presentation processes increasingly more often take place outside of the traditional opera houses. Small and mid-scale production structures and organisations are often at the core of this new development. In this field, the innovative artistic vision inspires often development of alternative business models, and vice versa – the necessity of new sources of funding triggers out-of-the-box thinking and results in new formats for opera presenting. Thanks to smaller organisational structures and flexible operational processes, the independent producers have the potential to acquire knowledge and innovate fast in order to thrive and pioneer in the rapidly changing artistic and social environment. Both in the movie and non-classical music industries, the idea of independent producing has been already recognised as a vital element of the respective fields. 

The newly established Independent Producers Forum of Opera Europa aims at giving a platform for exchange and development of expertise in the field of opera creation that takes place outside of the traditional opera house infrastructures, or in partnership between the opera houses and independent producers. By researching the dynamics of collaboration between traditional opera structures (houses, festivals) and the independent producers, this Forum’s goal is to propose new models for alliances within the opera ecosystem that would be beneficial for all involved parties and for the further development of opera.  

The forum's steering group consists of:
- Krystian Lada / The Airport Society / Brussels (Belgium)
- Alice Gubler / OPERA2DAY / The Hague (The Netherlands)
- Florian Bonneau / Opéra in situ / Paris (France)
- Emilien Rossier / Nouvel Opéra Fribourg / Fribourg (Switzerland) 
- Thomas Desi / Musiktheatertage / Vienna (Austria)
 

The next forum meeting will take place in Krakow from 30 January to 1 February 2020. 

For more information please contact celia@opera-europa.org