Opera North and the University have developed a bespoke work-based learning programme which enables students,
artists and staff to acquire and create new knowledge and skills by working together.Student placements and internships
Engaging with the opera production process
Learning to work with schools
Reciprocal staff learning
Student placements and internships
Students acquire hands-on experience of working at the heart of an opera company. It not only contributes to formal academic study, but also increases student employability.
- Student placements and internships for the equivalent of 5 weeks, in Arts Administration, Education, Public Relations and the General Director’s Office.
- Internships comprising 20 days.
- An intensive Student Study Programme for students from across the University.
Students have had the invaluable experience of observing rehearsals of Opera North’s new productions of Peter Grimes and The Fortunes of King Croesus.
In 2008 students will observe the full creative process for Opera North’s season of three new Shakespeare operas, from model-showing and set design to rehearsal and first night.
Shakespeare seminars will also bring together academics, students, directors, designers, musicians, technicians and opera company management to explore how an opera is produced and presented.
Learning to work with schools
A three-year project links undergraduates in the School of Performance and Cultural Industries with the Education Department of Opera North, whereby Opera North commissions and supports level 2 students to devise and deliver an opera-based project for primary schools.
The first project, based around Englebert Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel in autumn 2006, resulted in workshops in dance, singing designing and storytelling. The value for all concerned is reflected in this extract from one of the student’s evaluations: “The day...achieved many of our goals, including encouraging children to actively engage in creative activities…creating an enjoyable and stimulating day in the hope of influencing the children…to watch or even participate in this ‘high art’ form”.
Reciprocal staff learning
Artists and staff from Opera North and University academics and students are working together to create new material.
Dr Kara McKechnie, Lecturer in Dramaturgy and Literary Management and Martin Duncan, director of Opera North’s new commission Pinocchio, are together with the cast and production team, creating new material exploring the making of a new opera. “Make Me” will feature both in the production programme and on this website from December.
http://www.operanorth.co.uk/pinocchio/default.html
