Opera is undeniably a great instance of European cultural history and the only cultural heritage that has united audiences across Europe while maintaining its linguistic diversity. Being born in the tradition of allegorical celebrations and the European courts’ Baroque extravaganza, environmental sustainability was not among the priority of a performing art genre that sometimes happened to build an entire theatre for a single performance. Opera houses around the globe have been transforming into modern and technological machineries ever since, combining beauty, efficiency and tradition. Today they are taking the next step to become increasingly sustainable for the environment and even to convey to the public the awareness needed to live well and save our planet.
Butterfly: Boosting environmental awareness in opera creation aims to create a new attitude towards sustainability in theatre and opera houses by exploring new green practices related to opera production and circulation. To do so, the project will go through the entire process of opera co-creation and co-production of a sustainable opera – from the opera commission to the public attendance and the sharing of the sustainable practices experimented, with a particular focus on engaging young audiences throughout the whole process.
Two immersive days in which the partners met and planned their next steps in the beautiful halls of the Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti in Modena .
The first residency with the students and composers will be held in Gdansk, Poland, by Opera Baltycka
The residency will take place in Modena and will be dedicated to the final preparations for the Opera production.
The audience will get a chance to assist at the incredible performances of the Opera produced by the Butterfly project, in the three cities involved in the project: Modena, Helsinki and Gdansk.
A final conference in Brussels will be the conclusion of the Butterfly project and a great occasion to share the project results with the project’s stakeholders and wider audience.
Butterfly: Boosting the environmental awareness in opera creation is a project co-funded by the European Commission under the Creative Europe Programme that will run until January 2026. It is implemented by a Consortium led by Teatro Comunale di Modena, one of the leading opera houses among the Italian “Teatri di Tradizione”. The Consortium is joined by two other opera theatres – Opera BOX from Finland and the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk (Poland). The non-profit association AESS from Italy will bring its expertise in sustainable practices, while Heimspiel, the agency for digital storytelling formats from Augsburg (Germany), will lead the audiovisual production part of the project. CUMEDIAE, a Brussels-based international non-profit agency providing consultancy services in the field of CCIs European-wide, will ensure the project’s communication, engagement with stakeholders and allow for its widest dissemination.
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