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. 

The opera created within Butterfly will combine three acts of thirty minutes each (one for each country), made up of three stories dedicated to an environmental theme: water, earth and air. The co-production will involve three composers (and librettists) from the project’s three partner opera houses. 

The conception of the work and the opera’s libretto will begin with a co-creation phase implemented by high school students in three partners’ countries – Italy, Poland and Finland – through a cycle of webinars. It will be followed by an International Call for Composers to select the three authors who will write music for the stories created by the students in the previous stage. Then, the selected composers and lyricists of the play will work hand-in-hand with the creative team and the artistic directors of the project within two artistic residencies in Italy and Poland. Finally, after two years of work, the project will culminate, in May 2025, in the premiere of the newly created opera in the partner theatres and online. The final production will strongly rely on advanced digital technologies and showcase the pathways for a more sustainable opera production.

In parallel, workshops about the co-creation and co-production of sustainable opera and theatres, including sharing the green practices experimented with and applied throughout the whole process, will be diffused thanks to new technologies (AR,VR). The project will be closed with a Final Event in Belgium. The key outputs and outcomes will be presented and discussed in a panel gathering all project representatives, researchers, along with selected stakeholders and experts.