2018

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

Manchester Contemporary Youth Opera

2025 Collaborative Opera Lab

Tuesday 26 August to Friday 5 September 2025

Main venue: Contact Theatre, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M15 6JA

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Are you a young or emerging artist interested in making new opera? Manchester Contemporary Youth Opera (MCYO) invite applications for the forthcoming Collaborative Opera Lab.

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​Who are we looking for?

• Participants with creative skills and an interest in collaborating.

• No experience of making opera is needed.

• We welcome applications from young and emerging artists of all backgrounds and educational experience.

• We are interested in people working in any artform. Examples might include visual art, video, music performance (vocal or instrumental), writing, animation, design, composition, but we’d love to hear from you if your medium isn’t on this list.  

• Applicants should be aged 18 or over and self-define as ‘young’ or ‘emerging’.

What does it involve?

• You will work as a small group of artists with diverse skillsets to create and perform an opera.

• Participants will work together to lead the creative work in a distributed-leadership model, facilitated by the MCYO Artistic Directors and guest mentors.

• Over seven days of making time, you will create an opera with a maximum duration of 15 minutes.

• On the final day, we will film your opera, and you will perform it twice to a friendly public audience.

• You will be based at Contact, with occasional workshops in other local venues.

• The middle weekend (30-31 August) will not be scheduled. This will be time for rest and individual work in preparation for week 2.

• Our working days will typically be weekdays 10am-6pm, with a later finish on the final performance day (Friday 5 September).

What does it cost?

• Thanks to generous support from the Henfrey Charitable Trust, and Contact Theatre, we are able to offer places on the 2025 Lab free of charge. (The actual cost of a place on the Collaborative Opera Lab is in excess of £1000.)

• Please note that the fee waiver applies to participation in the Lab only, and does not include transport, accommodation, or subsistence costs. However, lunches will be provided on the days we are working.

How will participants be supported?

• The participant-led group will be supported by experienced mentors, including MCYO Artistic Directors Richard Strivens and Nina Whiteman.

• The group will be given a small production budget to spend.

• MCYO will provide lunch every day.

• The Contact building and all of our workshop sites are wheelchair accessible and close to public transport connections.

• It is important to us that we make participation accessible to you. Please let us know of any requirements when you apply.

How will participants be chosen?

• Applications will be judged on merit.

• We will look to create a group with a broad range of skills.

• A panel will select the participants: Nina Whiteman (composer-vocalist-multimedia artist, and MCYO Artistic Director), Richard Strivens (opera animateur-dramaturge-researcher, and MCYO Artistic Director), Zoe Katsilerou (choreographer-vocalist-improviser) and Deniz Dortok (composer-instrumentalist)

How do I apply? What do I need to submit?

• Application form (download at https://mcyopera.wixsite.com/mcyo)

• A 1-minute video of you sharing imaginative original work that shows what you could contribute to the collaboration.  

  • The video could be shot on your phone. Please let us know if you need to submit in a different format (e.g. audio/written) by emailing mcyopera@gmail.com.

  • Your video should be sent as a link, rather than as a file (e.g. upload it to YouTube as ‘unlisted’).

• Send the application form and video link to mcyopera@gmail.com by the (extended) deadline of Thursday 26 June 5pm BST.

• If you need to receive the application form in a different format, or need help completing the form, please contact mcyopera@gmail.com.

Questions?

• Feel free to DM us on Facebook or Instagram, or write to us at mcyopera@gmail.com