“And staying with the ecosystem metaphor, in the annual Opera Forward Festival we aim to offer an ideal habitat in which opera makers of different generations can flourish with groundbreaking works.” The Opera Forward Festival (OFF) will be celebrating its tenth anniversary in the new season. How many times have you personally been to the festival? “I was lucky to attend almost all editions, except for the first one. When I took over from Pierre Audi as director of Dutch National Opera, I decided it was crucial to keep developing OFF. It is unique in the opera world as a festival that brings together students, mid-career artists and highly experienced makers. Collaboration with art academies and other cultural partners is an essential part of this. Ten years on, the festival has become an indispensable part of Dutch National Opera’s DNA.” What can we expect from this anniversary edition of OFF? “We’ll be focusing on artists who work in the Dutch domain and bring them together with international partners. We want a festival in which different generations and styles are represented. Michel van der Aa, a champion of opera innovation and involved in the Opera Forward Festival since the first edition, returns with his new opera Theory of Flames.” “In partnership with the November Music festival, we will be presenting a new work by Meriç Artaç, a composer who is fond off interdisciplinary projects. We are teaming her up with Silvia Costa, who worked for years with Romeo Castellucci and is now making a fast career as a director for international theatres and opera houses.” “In Studio Boekman we will present Hannah Kendall’s poignant chamber opera The Knife of Dawn, directed by Gavin-Viano, one of today’s most versatile and high-profile Dutch theatre-makers.” “To celebrate the festival’s anniversary, we have decided to host the Opera Europa Conference during OFF. We’re looking forward to the exchanges between the Dutch and international sectors that will follow from it.” Doesn’t Dutch National Opera have another anniversary to celebrate this year? “Yes, Dutch National Opera is sixty! We would like to celebrate this anniversary with all the people who are dear to us: not only our audiences but also our Text: Wout van Tongeren and Laura Roling | Photo: Hans van den Boogaard Sophie de Lint Director Dutch National Opera colleagues, on stage and behind the scenes, who make our opera house what it is today. That is why the annual Open House, at the very start of our season, is the ideal moment to mark this milestone. It promises to be a celebration – in times of ‘conflicting realities’ – of the power of opera to bring people together.” “ After ten years, the Opera Forward Festival has become an indispensable part of Dutch National Opera’s DNA” 17
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