Conference 2002

A LEAP OF FAITH?

CONFERENCE · Tuesday 26th November 2002 · 10.30-18.00

Cecil Sharp House
2 Regent's Park Road, London NW1

As opera moves into the 21st Century, we see all kinds of new initiatives to ensure broader access to arts and culture, especially in the field of music. Meanwhile, our colleges are training new performers in ever-increasing numbers. Our young people will emerge into adulthood well versed in the joys and practice of music and the arts. Will we be ready to meet them, or will we be demanding a leap of faith when it comes to Opera? Can opera really hold its head up as a 21st Century art form?

Tickets: £17.50 1st delegate (free to OMTF members) · subsequent delegate £12 · includes sandwich lunch

Contact Caroline Anderson · 54 Astonville Street, London SW18 5AJ · info@omtf.org.uk · Tel: 020 8516 6313

PROGRAMME

10.00am OMTF Annual General Meeting (members only)

10.30am
THE STATE
OF PLAY Practitioners from right across the operatic spectrum outline the work, plans and objectives of their companies
Speakers:
Kirsty Young, Director, Hatstand Opera; Richard Mantle, General Director, Opera North; Matthew Peacock, Director, Streetwise Opera; Peter Mulloy, Artistic Director, Carl Rosa Opera; Christopher Stewart-Smith, Stanley Hall Opera; Fiona Maddocks, Chief Opera Critic, Evening Standard. Chaired by Bill Bankes-Jones, Chair OMTF/Artistic Director Tête à Tête

11.25 Coffee

11.45am
CREATIVE
MANIFESTOS OMTF's Opera For Now report showed that throughout the country there is a demand to see and hear live opera. We know that there are many singers, composers and directors wanting to create productions for people to see and hear. So how do we create opera for the 21st century?
Speakers:
Richard Thomas, Kombat Opera; James Conway, Director, English Touring Opera and Opera Theatre Company; Jonathan Dove, Composer & Artistic Director, Spitalfields Festival; Patrick Dickie, Producer, Almeida Opera; Nicholas Payne, former General Director, English National Opera. Chaired by Rodney Milnes, Chairman Opera Magazine

1.00pm Lunch

2.00pm
CREATION
VERSUS
EDUCATION? Opera is still a minority interest. The development of creative ideas has to run in tandem with broadening the audience. Is this a burden or the inspiration for a breakthrough? How is outreach related to the core product? Are we sacrificing excellence to education?
A NEW BEGINNING
Graham Vick, Artistic Director, Birmingham Opera Company
BROADENING THE BASE
Steve Moffitt, Creative Director, Inner London East, Creative Partnerships; Sarah Alexander, Director of MAX, Welsh National Opera; Katie Tearle, Head of Education, Glyndebourne; Jane Pountney, Director Children's Music Workshop. Chair tba

3.40pm Break

3.55pm
HELPING
IT HAPPEN Audiences want more opera, companies want to mount it and promoters want to book it. Both companies and promoters need support to make it happen. How can the public funding systems help? Are there any other realistic options?
Speakers include:
Tom Morris, Director, Battersea Arts Centre; Natalie Steed, Freelance Producer; Henry Little, Head of Opera and Music Theatre, Arts Council of England; Andrew Pinnock, Head of Music, London Arts Board. Chaired by Camilla Whitworth-Jones, Helen Hamlyn Foundation.

5.00pm Break

5.15pm
WHERE DO
WE GO
FROM HERE? How can the OMTF & UK Opera companies foster and encourage this "leap of faith"?
Chaired by Bill Bankes-Jones, Chair OMTF/Artistic Director Tête à Tête

5.45.pm Close


PROGRAMME

10.00am	OMTF Annual General Meeting (members only)

10.30am THE STATE OF PLAY	Practitioners from right across the operatic spectrum outline the work, plans and objectives of their companies Speakers: Kirsty Young, Director, Hatstand Opera; Richard Mantle, General Director, Opera North; Matthew Peacock, Director, Streetwise Opera; Peter Mulloy, Artistic Director, Carl Rosa Opera; Christopher Stewart-Smith, Stanley Hall Opera; Fiona Maddocks, Chief Opera Critic, Evening Standard. Chaired by Bill Bankes-Jones, Chair OMTF/Artistic Director Tête à Tête

11.25	Coffee

11.45am CREATIVE MANIFESTOS	OMTF's Opera For Now report showed that throughout the country there is a demand to see and hear live opera. We know that there are many singers, composers and directors wanting to create productions for people to see and hear. So how do we create opera for the 21st century? Speakers: Richard Thomas, Kombat Opera; James Conway, Director, English Touring Opera and Opera Theatre Company; Jonathan Dove, Composer & Artistic Director, Spitalfields Festival; Patrick Dickie, Producer, Almeida Opera; Nicholas Payne, former General Director, English National Opera. Chaired by Rodney Milnes, Chairman Opera Magazine

1.00pm	Lunch

2.00pm CREATION VERSUS EDUCATION?	Opera is still a minority interest. The development of creative ideas has to run in tandem with broadening the audience. Is this a burden or the inspiration for a breakthrough? How is outreach related to the core product? Are we sacrificing excellence to education? A NEW BEGINNING Graham Vick, Artistic Director, Birmingham Opera Company BROADENING THE BASE Steve Moffitt, Creative Director, Inner London East, Creative Partnerships; Sarah Alexander, Director of MAX, Welsh National Opera; Katie Tearle, Head of Education, Glyndebourne; Jane Pountney, Director Children's Music Workshop. Chair tba

3.40pm	Break

3.55pm HELPING IT HAPPEN	Audiences want more opera, companies want to mount it and promoters want to book it. Both companies and promoters need support to make it happen. How can the public funding systems help? Are there any other realistic options? Speakers include: Tom Morris, Director, Battersea Arts Centre; Natalie Steed, Freelance Producer; Henry Little, Head of Opera and Music Theatre, Arts Council of England; Andrew Pinnock, Head of Music, London Arts Board. Chaired by Camilla Whitworth-Jones, Helen Hamlyn Foundation.

5.00pm	Break

5.15pm WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?	How can the OMTF & UK Opera companies foster and encourage this "leap of faith"? Chaired by Bill Bankes-Jones, Chair OMTF/Artistic Director Tête à Tête

5.45.pm	Close