On 27-29 February the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre will welcome an important forum-meeting of the members of the international organization “Opera Europa”, which unites nearly 200 European opera theatres.
Celebrating the centenary of the Lithuanian Opera, LNOBT organizes one of the biggest events of “Opera Europa” - a joint forum of producers, technical directors and costume, wig and make-up professionals, to discuss topical issues, share best experiences and practices in multi-theatre productions.
Conferences open to the general membership take place twice a year in alternating member cities. Conference programmes focus on topics and developments of current practical interest, such as artistic issues, maximizing income, audience development, new technologies and new media, human resources, fundraising and PR/Marketing. Conferences are further especially useful for developing contacts for Europe-wide co-productions. The specialist forums accommodate the needs of the specialist groups for confidential peer-to-peer discussions and sharing or even developing best practises in their respective fields. The active forums include groups in Artistic Administration, Audio-visual & Digital media, Costume, Make-up & Wig, Education, Fundraising & Friends, Sustainability, Human Resources, Marketing & Communication, Independent Producers, Technical & Production as well as Technical Managers and Set Workshops.
The Forum in Vilnius will include representatives from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bergen, Berlin, Brussels, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Hanover, Helsinki, Karlsruhe, Copenhagen, Linz, Lyon, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Malmo, Oslo, Paris, Poznan, Riga, Saarbrücken, teams from the theatres of Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Warsaw and Vienna, as well as Bregenz and Wexford festival organizers.
LNOBT has many years of experience as a partner in co-productions with foreign theatres: Lithuanians have worked together with the English National Opera, the Royal Theater of Madrid, the Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Paris National Opera and Châtelet Theatre, opera houses in Bilbao, Bratislava, Gothenburg, Houston, Rome, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Toronto, also Glyndebourne Opera Festival and other significant partners.
Representatives of the LNOBT, a member of this organization, will actively participate in the “Opera Europa” Forum: Artūras Alenskas, Head of the Theatre Production, Events and Tours Department, is a member of the Opera Europe Producers and Technical Managers Forum Managing Group, and his deputy Giedrė Butrimienė will share her experience of participating in co-productions and present new ideas for improving theatre collaboration. Ula Pakalniškytė, Head of the Makeup and Wigs Department, will present the features of wig production technologies used in Vilnius, while Ilva Leda Eklerienė, Head of Costume Department, Vilma Mackevičienė, Deputy Head of Sewing Department, and assistants to costume designers Ugnė Tamuliūnaitė and Marta Vosyliūtė will speak about manufacturing of costumes, their restoration and use of specific materials.
Participants of the “Opera Europa” Forum in Vilnius will have the opportunity to witness the production of “Turandot” directed by Robert Wilson. LNOBT has co-produced this magnificent spectacle along with the Royal Madrid Theatre, Paris National Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Toronto Canadian Opera Company.
