STATE OPERA WINTER ACADEMY – 5-16 JULY 2021 – IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
As a vital supporter of our Opera Academy initiative, we wanted to thank you for your ongoing and enthusiastic support of this important national program. We are passionate about this initiative and committed to providing a program which will create, develop, and enhance the career pathways for our most talented emerging opera singers.
In its first year, this highly competitive program has attracted significant interest from all over the country, with the final selected cohort of singers, coaches and specialist teachers coming from all over Australia to participate.
However, given the rapidly evolving situation and extensive COVID-19 restrictions in place at this time, we are unable to proceed as planned next week.
It is a deeply disappointing moment for us all, but from disappointment springs opportunity and innovation. As a Company already known for its skillful approach to performance, repertoire, and spaces, we believe that the Opera Academy Program is too important for us to relinquish just because of the restrictive circumstances we find ourselves in today. And so, we are taking a moment to do more than reschedule this vital program; we want to re-imagine it.
Following a brief period of planning by our artistic leadership team, we look forward to making an exciting announcement in the coming weeks of a more expansive, flexible, and bespoke program which will deliver exceptional individual outcomes for our emerging artists.
While this new program will require a deeper investment, it is one we willingly make in partnership with our funders, donors, and supporters in aid of the future of opera in Australia.
Thank you for your ongoing patience, understanding, and support.
Stuart Maunder (Artistic Director) and Yarmila Alfonzetti (Executive Director)
State Opera South Australia
