Research

We aim to be the world leaders in:

  • Research into opera
  • Research through opera
  • Research for opera

The University of Leeds and Opera North bring a wealth of expertise in the theory and practice of opera and theatre and their cultural context.
Our research programme combines traditional research and scholarship in the arts, sciences and technology, and practice-based or practice-led research.

The DARE research Agenda
The first DARE Research Agenda was created in May 2010, with a commitment to undertake research that increases and shares knowledge about opera, informs thinking and practice in opera and develops audiences for opera, regionally, nationally and internationally.

The agenda’s key themes were developed at a cross-organisational research seminar when over 50 participants from across the academic and artistic spectrum came together to explore areas of common interest and initiate activity – a kind of ‘speed-date’ to connect researchers and practitioners around issues facing the sector and relevant to Opera North’s business plan.

Priority themes include: -

  • The scope for Opera North to become a ‘Teaching Theatre’.
  • The role of conservatoires in relation to the musical life of the country
  • Music and mental health: autism and opera.
  • The science of watching an opera.
  • The value of opera in a city.
  • Perceptions of opera in the media
  • Digital communications

A number of projects are being developed, including collaborative PhD applications and partnerships with external institutions.

Operatic Encounters: Common Voices

http://www.opencov.eu/

Operatic Encounters: Common Voices (OPENCOV) was a European Cultural Co-operation with Third Countries Project (2008-2010), linking five cultural institutions: the University of Leeds, Opera North, Shanghai Theatre Academy, Bregenzer Festspiele and the Sibelius Academy. It originated in the DARE partnership between the University of Leeds and Opera North Project leader: Susan Daniels s.m.daniels@leeds.ac.uk

Its aim was to explore points of contact through the medium of opera, forming long lasting partnerships and promoting cultural understanding between Europe and China through workshops, and research in Shanghai, Leeds and Bregenz.

Research into the impact of legislation on musicians and academics
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations (2005) will come into force for the music and entertainment sectors from April 2008. A research project currently underway is exploring the likely impact of this legislation on professional musicians and academics. The project aims to develop a more detailed understanding of the sound levels that musicians are exposed to during the working day in various environments including the Opera North pit in The Grand Theatre and Opera House Leeds and various concert halls. It is hoped that the outcomes of the research will be of positive benefit to musicians and to organisations involved in the performance of live music.

Two collaborative PhDs
Funding from Arts and Humanities Research Council has been awarded for two collaborative PhDs exploring opera as adaptation. The first, entitled ‘Adaptation and the libretto’, began in the autumn of 2007 and is held by Adam Strickson. It is supervised by Dr Kara McKechnie, School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds.
A second studentship started in 2008. Jenny Daniel is exploring ‘Compositional responses to source and libretto’ and is supervised by Richard Farnes, Music Director, Opera North, Dr Kara McKechnie (see above) and Professor Rachel Cowgill, School of Music, Cardiff University.

Other doctoral research
Doctoral research in the School of Music is currently being undertaken by Opera North’s head of Music Martin Pickard on J. N. von Poissl and the early 19th-Century quest for a typical German Opera, and has been completed by former Opera North cellist George Kennaway on Nineteenth-century cello performance practice.