THE ARTS Council is to introduce two new funding schemes for opera.
The first, an opera production award, is “designed to encourage partnership-based proposals from those wishing to produce and present an opera at either main, medium or small scale”.
The second scheme is a projects award that will focus on supporting partnership-based proposals to develop and/or produce a new work, initially at a small scale.
The council’s new approach will see two annual rounds of funding for opera projects. The production award will be offered twice in 2012, the first – with an application closing date in February – will be for productions to take place later in 2012. The next – with a closing date in May – will be for 2013 productions.
The council will continue to provide opera bursaries, travel and training awards to individual opera practitioners.
Support for Wexford Festival Opera and Opera Theatre Company will be maintained, and the new funding schemes will be open to both companies.
Arts director John O’Kane said the council is “encouraging the opera sector to form creative and value-adding partnerships, to explore new types of business model around which people can work more collaboratively together and ultimately deliver better value to the taxpayer”.
