A groundbreaking new collaboration between the University of Leeds and Opera North is an exciting fusion of the artistic and the academic. Over the next four years this pioneering partnership will combine the excellence of both organisations to inspire artists, students and practitioners, stimulate audiences – and spark bold new work.

Together, two of the UK’s leading institutions of culture and education have an exciting vision. They aim to enhance the creative and intellectual life of Leeds with a range of projects which would be beyond the reach of either party alone – and the impact of which will be felt regionally, nationally and internationally.

Artists and students will explore radical new ways of working and performing, while conferences will encourage debate and challenge traditional thinking. Students across subjects and disciplines will be offered work placements and internships at Opera North – while outreach work will take the collaboration out into the city, engaging communities in the joy of creativity and academic achievement.

The partnership will be launched at a special event at Opera North on March 26 to be attended by representatives from the regional and national arts, local authorities, business and the media. The event will feature performances by members of the Orchestra of Opera North, University music students and rising young star, the soprano Amy Freston.

Professor Michael Arthur, Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds, said: “We are extremely excited about this new partnership. Working together, our two organisations have an amazing potential to engage people in creativity and academic achievement in a range of new ways.”

Richard Mantle, General Director of Opera North, added: “This potent combination of forces will have a wide-reaching impact on the life of the city and the region, and will enable our organisations to influence the cultural agenda at both a national and an international level.”

Writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, Chancellor of the University of Leeds, said: “Winning the 2007 South Bank Show Award for Opera is a fitting testament to Opera North for their innovative and creative contribution to the arts. As Chancellor, I have seen the University’s dynamism and creative strength. By uniting these two organisations, exciting, ambitious and pioneering projects are emerging. This promises an exciting future.”

One of the collaboration’s key projects is ‘Resonance’, a radical new programme cracking open opera’s many art forms – music, theatre, voice, scenography and the written word – and make them more relevant to contemporary audiences. It will provide a forum for artists hungry to explore fresh ways of working, research the explosive potential of incorporating digital and multimedia technology into operatic production and lead to new commissions in music, image and performance.

School projects, performances and pre-performance talks will form an outreach programme offering access to the arts and education for people of all ages and backgrounds. It begins with 30 high school pupils working alongside a professional designer, singer and pianist to stage scenes inspired by Opera North’s production of Katya Kabanova, while a student pianist will work with Opera North on a major community project in the Little London area of Leeds.

Students will gain experience of working in a professional theatre, following the development of a world-class Opera North production from early rehearsals to final performance. The collaboration also offers the opportunity for major research into areas including dramatic adaptation, opera’s role in society, theatre acoustics and the management of opera.

The University of Leeds will work with Opera North on a new production each year, beginning in spring 2008 with an innovative new Shakespeare season, featuring three new productions on one set. Artists, academics, students and creative specialists will learn from each other, combining their skills, knowledge and curiosity to explore elements of live production – and examine the difficulties of bringing Shakespeare to the opera stage.

A series of international conferences and symposia will challenge current thinking and provoke wide-ranging debate. Highlights for 2007 include: ‘Song, Stage & Screen 2’, ‘Performing Literatures’ and ‘Orpheus and the Orphic’.

Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, welcomed the collaboration, saying it would encourage new thinking and new approaches in education and the performing arts. She added: “I hope this will lead the way for others to follow.”

For further information contact:
Richard Ashton, PR Manager, Opera North t: 0113 2233597 m: 07966 293 857 e: richard.ashton@operanorth.co.uk Or Vanessa Bridge, Director of Media Relations, University of Leeds, t: 0113 343 4031 e: pressoffice@leeds.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

1. Opera North is England's national opera company in the north and is committed to producing high-quality, exciting and entertaining work by actively challenging preconceptions of opera, breathing new life into the classics, advocating lesser-known works and championing musical theatre. Over the last three decades Opera North has established itself as one of the leading arts organisations in the country and one of the most imaginative opera companies in Europe.

Opera North collaborates with innovative artists and companies working in a variety of media, including film and photographic art. Opera North’s critically acclaimed Chorus and versatile Orchestra also perform independently, constantly revitalising their approaches to music-making.

Education is a vital part of the work of the Company, and Opera North Education is a pioneer in the field. The team uses opera and music theatre to inspire and develop creativity not only in children but also young people, those with disabilities and the wider community.

Winner of the South Bank Show Award for Opera 2007
Winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Opera & Music Theatre 2005
Winner of the South Bank Show Award for Opera 2005
Winner of the TMA Theatre Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera 2004
Winner of the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards for Opera 2004
Winner of the Audiences Yorkshire Award for Best Overall Marketing and Audience Development Campaign 2004

Soprano Amy Freston is a frequent guest at Opera North singing the First Niece in Peter Grimes, Belinda in Dido and Aeneas and La Musica in Orfeo.

Visit: www.operanorth.co.uk

2. The University of Leeds is one of the UK’s leading research universities, with world-class research excellence across the arts and sciences and an annual research income of some £72million, and a turnover of £350m. One of Britain’s most popular choices for students, the University of Leeds has attracted more than 49,000 applications for undergraduate places in 2008. More than 100 countries are represented among some 30,000 students. The University of Leeds is the city’s third largest employer, with just under 7,500 staff and contributes an estimated £600m annually to the local economy. Students contribute some 27,000 hours as volunteers in schools and communities and one in four graduates takes up employment locally.

The University’s Clothworkers’ Centenary Concert Hall is one of the region’s finest chamber music venues, and its refectory is a legendary rock music venue, where The Who’s ‘Live at Leeds’ album was recorded in 1970. Leeds University Union’s 12-hour summer ball is the country’s biggest student musical event. Later this year the University will open a public theatre in a new building at the heart of the campus. Leeds has one of the UK’s best university libraries, with 2.8m books and internationally important collections of rare and special items, including the first folio edition of Shakespeare’s work.

Visit: www.leeds.ac.uk

3. The Opera North Centre in association with the University of Leeds is a major part of ‘Transformation’ a £31 million project to develop Leeds Grand Theatre.