As I write this, everyone involved with the Genesis Opera Project is becoming quietly excited. In a few weeks? time we are premiering three operas in London at Almeida Opera by relatively unknown composers, but we feel extremely confident ? based not only on the workshops last year but also on current rehearsals ? that we are in for a stimulating time, writes Mel Cooper.
We?re very much aware it?s a case of ?the proof of the pudding? and that the three operas may not be to everyone?s taste. Nevertheless, we passionately believe that they will all make a real contribution to the modern lyric stage and will put a much-deserved spotlight on members of the international creative teams.
John Studzinski, founder and Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, developed this project following discussions with Jonathan Reekie, Chief Executive of Aldeburgh Productions and who also has connections with Almeida Opera. As a result, a call went out all over the world for composers to enter what was, at that time, the Genesis Prizes for Opera. Over 200 entries arrived from 37 countries. We planned on commissioning six projects for workshop development. In fact, during the selection process by the panellists, the generous decision was made by John Studzinski that we should extend this to nine.
For the workshops in April 2002, each creative team submitted 15 minutes of music and a completed draft of their libretto. Actors were hired to perform each libretto, and days were spent by musicians, singers and conductors learning the material, with the composers and librettists in attendance. Finally, over a two-day period, presentations of all nine shortlisted proposals took place in the Lillian Bayliss Theatre at Sadler?s Wells in front of an invited audience of the panellists, and opera and theatre professionals, followed by lively and thought-provoking discussions.
Three of the projects were subsequently commissioned for performance in Almeida Opera this July. A further opera was commissioned for future development and a fifth, Isidora Zebeljan?s ?Zora D?, was picked up for a joint production by the Amsterdam and Vienna Chamber Opera companies, with Genesis paying the commission. Current rehearsals of the completed Genesis operas for the Almeida season suggest that the promise of those workshop presentations is being fulfilled.
The Genesis Prizes for Opera was very much about the creative and commissioning process. Clearly everyone who got through to the workshops had, in a way, already won a prize: the opportunity to develop their work, to see it fully workshopped and discussed in the presence of arts professionals, and then to go away to work on its strengths and flaws.
Of course, we hope that each opera being premiered will be a hit and go on to be added to the international opera repertoire. Already we are sifting through the proposals for the second round of the Genesis Opera Project. We also hope people will perceive this project as an important, innovative way of stimulating and contributing to the world of music theatre. We are proud to be supporting and mentoring young artists at that stage in their careers when, by bolstering their self-esteem and a sense of the dignity of their work, we can facilitate their development as our artists of the future.
We find, as we had originally hoped, that the whole exercise has turned out to be not about competition but about process: about various styles, levels and types of winning. And that?s why we decided to change its name to the Genesis Opera Project ? to reflect the reality of what has emerged from our work. The prize is involvement in the process.
Mel Cooper is a Senior Consultant at the Genesis Foundation. t: 020 7603 9237 e: mel.cooper@culturenow.com w: http://www.genesisfoundation.org.uk