Young creatives from Cambridge Youth Opera will write and compose a new opera based on a theme rooted in research being conducted at the University of Cambridge. Performances are planned for summer 2025. This follows our highly successful opera The Little Black Cat, written and composed by young people in 2021/22 and performed in 2023 in Norwich and Cambridge.
CYO is working with the Public Engagement Team at the University of Cambridge to identify and recruit appropriate researchers who will present to a panel of young CYO members, including the CYO Superheroes, our Youth Board. The young people will decide which idea they wish to progress. The chosen idea will inform all elements of the project, from the story and libretto, through the music and design, to the production and performance.
The brief for researchers wishing to submit ideas is below. If you are a University of Cambridge researcher and interested in applying, please contact Lucinda Spokes, Head of Public Engagement: Lucinda.Spokes@admin.cam.ac.uk.
The creative work will comprise three strands:
- 2024: Creating the story and writing the libretto: we will work with young writers age 11 – 19 in Cambridge and online to create the story and turn it into the libretto for a short opera.
- 2025: Composing the opera: young composers in Cambridge will work with the CYO team and a freelance composition coach to set the libretto to music
- 2025: Design and making, based at Downham Market School during which students at the school will work with the researcher, the CYO team and a freelance design and making coach, to produce the visual elements to support the production.
The creative phase will culminate in a presentation of the new work will take place during the Cambridge Festival in March 2025. This very popular University run event attracts over 100,000 interactions in person and online. The CYO presentation is likely to include:
- Presentations by young creatives and researcher
- Performance (not staged) of extracts from the work
- Exhibition work from the design and making project
Following this we will rehearse and perform the opera. This will comprise:
- A full scale production in Cambridge involving CYO members in all areas including performance and backstage work, culminating in performances planned for July 2025. The production will include the objects created in Downham Market
- A smaller scale project at Downham Market school providing workshops where students will learn the music with minimal staging elements. This will culminate in an in-school exhibition of the objects created for the project along with performances of the work learned
Cambridge Youth Opera 