Opera Europa is the international service organisation for professional opera companies and opera festivals in Europe. It is incorporated in Brussels as a not-for-profit organisation.
With roots going back to 1995, Opera Europa gained its present format and name in 2002, on the merger of the European Opera Network and the Eurolyrica associations.Opera Europa website. The beginnings of Opera Europa: a short chronicle It had 233 member companies in 44 different countries as of October 2023.
Activities For the benefit of its member companies, it runs forums, databases, a quarterly newsletter, and twice-yearly conferences, and offers reciprocal membership benefits with Opera America.Opera Europa website. About Us pages
European Opera Days Opera Europa co-ordinates the annual European Opera Days when opera companies across Europe open their doors to the general public, with opera house tours, open rehearsals, talks and special events (both in and outside the conventional spaces). The first European Opera Days were held in 2007, and since then have taken place each year on the weekend closest to the EU's Europe Day, 9 May.European Opera Days website Retrieved 13 Aug 2011.
Opera Platform Opera Europa is the lead partner behind the Opera Platform, a service launched in May 2015 to offer free live streams of operas via the web. The three-year project to stream one free production every month received half of its 3.9 million euro budget from the European Union's Creative Europe programme, the other half coming from the 15 opera companies providing the content. The Franco-German TV network Arte is providing the technological platform.
The Opera Platform won the Accessibility category in the 2016 edition of the International Opera Awards.2016 winners, International Opera Awards. Retrieved 22 October 2016 In 2017, the Opera Platform became the free streaming service OperaVision.
European Opera-directing Prize (EOP) Since 2001, in collaboration with the Camerata Nuova e.V. in Wiesbaden, Germany, Opera Europa supports a biennial competition, the European Opera-directing Prize (EOP, in German: Europäischer Opernregie-Preis) for young opera directors and design teams up to the age of 35. The total prize money is 42,500 euros, supplied by Camerata Nuova, with 20,000 euros for the winning concept and have their production mounted by a European opera company.
YearOperaWinning team"Auf einen Blick – History", Europäischer Opernregie-PreisPremiereSponsoring company2001Fidelio (Beethoven)Matthias Lutz (dir),Julia Hansen (design)29 April 2002Hessisches Staatstheater, Wiesbaden2003Hans Heiling (Marschner)Andreas May (dir),David König (design)28 February 2004Opéra national du Rhin, Strasbourg2005La Cenerentola (Rossini)Thaddeus Strassberger (dir, sets),Mattie Ullrich (costumes)22 April 2006Opera Ireland, Dublin2007Rusalka (Dvořák)Johannes Gleim (dir),Daniela Juckel (design)30 March 2008Latvian National Opera, Riga2009La finta giardiniera (Mozart)Anna Dirckinck-Holmfeld (dir),Sibylle Wallum (design)1 April 2010Stadttheater Bern2011I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Bellini)Sam Brown (dir),Annemarie Woods (design)27 September 2012As.Li.Co., Como and tour2013Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni) and Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)Second prize; first prize not awarded"7th EOP –2013, Europäischer Opernregie-PreisStadttheater Klagenfurt2015Weiße Rose (Udo Zimmermann)Joint first prize:Niki Ellinidou (dir),Nefeli Myrtidi (design)22 October 2016Oper KölnAnna Drescher (dir),Hudda Chukri (design)4 November 20162016La traviata (Verdi)Andrea Bernard (dir)Elena Beccaro, Alberto Beltrame (design)October 2017, Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, Busseto
References
Sources Opera Europa website Camerata Nuova e.V., Wiesbaden website