Northern Ireland Opera is relaunching their highly regarded Northern Ireland Opera Studio in April 2021 and along with the existing year-long programme of development opportunities for emerging opera singers, there will be new paid opportunities available for conductors, repetiteurs, directors, stage and costume designers, stage managers, choreographers and stage technicians.
Applicants need to be domiciled on the island of Ireland now and aged between 21 and 35 when the programme begins in April 2021. Applications are invited by 29th January and successful applicants will be invited to auditions and/or interviews towards the end of February, public health restrictions allowing.
Since the Northern Ireland Opera Studio was launched in 2011, then known as the Young Artists Programme, thirty-nine emerging opera singers from across the island of Ireland have benefited from vocal coaching, mentoring and performance opportunities from Northern Ireland Opera.
We are excited to expand these training and development opportunities to the wider spheres of musical and technical expertise which is needed to bring an opera to the stage. In upskilling and providing paid work opportunities to a wide range of creatives, we believe we will also be assisting the wider cultural sector in Northern Ireland, building the skills and experience within the sector to help further grow and develop the creative community here and make it resilient against future challenges.
Northern Ireland Opera’s Artistic Director Cameron Menzies, said “Northern Ireland Opera understands that it takes an extremely diverse array of highly skilled artists across many specific disciplines to create an opera. To acknowledge this, we believe the NI Opera Studio should also reflect this in relation to the breadth of its training. We look forward to opening our doors and seeing what amazing talent comes our way.”
Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music, Arts Council Northern Ireland, commented, “The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is proud to support Northern Ireland Opera as it embarks upon the expansion of the hugely successful Northern Ireland Opera Studio. We are committed to supporting opportunities for our artists and creatives to develop their professional careers and this initiative not only offers an incredible chance to learn and grow from one of the region’s leading arts organisations but also bolsters the arts sector here and offers payment to creatives at a time when many have seen their work cancelled as a result of the pandemic. Congratulations to all involved.”
For more information and full details of auditions go here: www.niopera.com/2021/01/14/niopera-studio-auditions/
For further information, please contact Julia O’Hara (Marketing and Development Manager) on 07939 026779 or visit Studio | Northern Ireland Opera (niopera.com)
