Selection of Season Members to Participate in the 'Opera Season' Performance
Training Opera Professionals Including Orchestra and Choir Members
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Busan City is taking active steps to produce original operas and train opera professionals to ensure the successful opening of the ‘Busan Opera House,’ which will become a landmark of Busan.
First, the city will conduct a ‘Creative Opera Contest’ to discover emerging opera composers and playwrights and secure a variety of new repertoires to be showcased at the Busan Opera House.
The contest targets original opera works that have not been announced or performed, with no restrictions on the theme. Eligible applicants are teams matched with a composer and playwright capable of creating a pure original script within 2 hours and composing a full-length opera.
The announcement period runs until March 2023, and submissions are accepted from March 15 to March 31, 2023. Playwrights must submit a completed script that includes background, characters, themes, and plot, while composers must submit at least three pieces among the opera overture, male and female arias, chorus pieces, or preludes.
After screening the submissions, three candidate works will be selected, and the final winner will be chosen through a showcase.
The winning work will receive a total creation fee of 20 million KRW. After revisions and arrangements to enhance the work’s completeness, the winning opera will be performed at the Busan Opera House in 2025. For more details, please refer to the Busan City website.
To produce an opening original opera with world-class scenario and musical quality, the city appointed renowned composer Choi Woo-jung (Professor of Composition at Seoul National University) and playwright Bae Sam-sik (Professor of Directing at Korea National University of Arts) through discussions with the ‘Opera House Expert Advisory Committee.’ The opening original opera, produced under the guidance of these two experts, is scheduled to premiere in October 2024, coinciding with the opening of the opera house.
Additionally, to prepare for the 2024 opening and the grand opening in 2025, the city is preparing a season program composed of diverse content through cooperation and exchange with private opera companies, overseas opera companies, and national and regional opera companies.
Alongside this, to cultivate opera professionals and expand the base of cultural arts in Busan, the city is publicly recruiting orchestra and choir season members to participate in the ‘2022 Busan Opera Season.’
The ‘2022 Busan Opera Season’ consists of the full-length opera ‘La Boh?me’ produced at Busan Cultural Center, the concert opera ‘Masked Ball’ at Geumjeong Cultural Center, and ‘La Traviata’ at the Busan Cinema Center. Season members will participate in these productions.
This year, about 30 choir members and about 40 orchestra members will be selected by section. Eligibility requires applicants to be 39 years old or younger, majoring in orchestra or choir, residing in Busan as of the application date or graduates of universities located in Busan, and able to participate in all rehearsals and performances of the three works in the ‘2022 Busan Opera Season.’ Applications will be accepted from July 14 to 17. For more details, please refer to the Busan Cultural Center website.
This is the first time a public institution in the Busan area is selecting a professional opera orchestra and choir. In line with the ongoing effort since last year to transform public theaters into production theaters, this initiative will allow theaters to directly employ local artists they need, contributing to the expansion of Busan’s cultural arts base and the cultivation of opera professionals.
The selection and training of season members will be carried out continuously every year. Selected season members are expected to participate in various performances such as creation, production, and planned performances once the Busan Opera House and Busan International Art Center are fully operational.
Kim Ki-hwan, Director of the Culture and Sports Bureau of Busan City, said, “We are promoting various content projects centered on original opera production to prepare for the successful opening of the Busan Opera House,” adding, “We will also accelerate efforts to create a sustainable production environment through the transformation of public theaters into production theaters by expanding participation of Busan cultural artists and focusing on training opera professionals.”
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