The Joy of Opera at The Cockpit

You are warmly invited to come and rediscover the joy you first found in opera at our two day practical celebration. Setting aside the ubiquitous discussions around how we might fix opera, we invite you instead to spend a day or two in celebration of why we love it!

The Joy of Opera is a chance for anybody involved, whether creator, performer, backstage, front of house, donor, funder or audience, to join with like minds in a safe space where, through practical sessions rather than debate we can get to know each other and share our enthusiasm, skills and knowledge in a playful yet positive and constructive way.  

We’d love to see people considered leaders of the sector playing with those just beginning; young artists still discovering their passions improvising a new show alongside prima donnas and eminences grises.

You can get a flavour of how it might be by checking The Joy Of Opera 2024 web page and in particular by watching the brief highlights video.

How will it work?
The Cockpit will be full of “stalls”  in rooms all over the building, much like a fairground or village fête. You will be given some magic beans when you arrive. Over the two days you can spend or earn these with different stallholders. Stalls this year will include:

SEBASTIAN
A chance to meet, interact and improvise with an operatic AI brought to us all the way from Egypt by composer Bahaa al Ansary

CHOIR FOR THE END OF THE WORLD
Ahead of the premiere of ‘A Small Group of People’, join musician and composer Bob Allan for an interactive workshop on singing, eco-grief and resistance!

ALLSING
A fantastical simulation of the opera industry led by our very own Leo Doulton, pioneer of immersive opera. Play as the Imperial Opera House, Ratfaced Opera, The Painbury Foundation, and more, experiencing what it's like to be making the decisions.

…and many others yet to be announced, a mix of the practical (mentoring sessions, skills exchanges), creative (karaoke arias, improvising opera), and the strange (simulate the opera sector with fistfuls of dice, Gen Z tutorials on instagramming opera).

How do I get involved?
You don’t need to book, just turn up on the day, though we would love to know if you are coming.

If you would like to create your own stall, then please let us know by emailing info@tete-a-tete.org.uk. There's more information here.

Age range: Any age, but mostly adults