ROH2 was the contemporary arm of the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

until 2012, commissioning and producing

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and contemporary

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

works in the Linbury Studio Theatre, Clore Studio Upstairs, Paul Hamlyn Hall, and various other locations situated both within the Royal Opera House and outside. ROH2 also provided additional artistic resources to partners and associate artists in order to help the organisation realise its strategic aims.

Scope

ROH2 focused on developing art forms, creating opportunities for emerging artists, and attracting new and diverse audiences to the Royal Opera House. Since the start of the 2012/13 season, the work of ROH2 has been undertaken by the studio programs of the Royal Opera and the

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

Ballet. ROH2 had a multi-layered approach, which included: * New productions and commissions in the Linbury Studio Theatre and Clore Studio Upstairs * Co-productions and co-commissions with partner organizations and companies * A contemporary opera development program * Associate artist programs and

professional development Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning Informal learning is characterized "by a low degree of planning and ...

work * Festival programming in the public spaces of the Royal Opera House and outside the building * visiting companies whose work complements the artistic program * Taking ROH2 productions to partner regions and venues across the UK as part of the Royal Opera House on the Road programme

Working with partners

ROH2 developed partnerships with a range of arts organizations and companies, including

Music Theatre Wales Music Theatre Wales (MTW) is a touring contemporary opera company, based in Cardiff, Wales. MTW performs newly commissioned works, alongside existing pieces from the recent past which are either neglected or have been unseen in the UK. Works are ...

, the Opera Group, the

Britten Sinfonia Britten Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra ensemble based in Cambridge, UK. It was created in 1992, following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognised the need for an orchestra in the ...

, ,

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...

Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Shobana Jeyasingh Dance is a British dance company based in London and founded in 1989 by the company's artistic director and choreographer, Shobana Jeyasingh. The company has toured internationally including India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, USA ...

, Ballet Black, the National Dance Network, Opera East,

Dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

Umbrella, the

London Jazz Festival The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Ser ...

, and the

London International Mime Festival The London International Mime Festival (LIMF) is an annual theatre event in London. Its directors, Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan, are winners of the International Theatre Institute Award for Excellence. LIMF features live art, a new circu ...

. Intended benefits include: * Opening up ROH to a range of new audiences * Access to ROH resources for partner companies * Skills and

knowledge sharing Knowledge sharing is an activity through which knowledge (namely, information, skills, or expertise) is exchanged among people, friends, peers, families, communities (for example, Wikipedia), or within or between organizations. It bridges the ind ...

* Innovative approaches to developing new work * involvement of the ROH in a range of forums, opening up communication, and enabling new relationships.

New productions

ROH2 regularly commissions and produces new opera and dance works. New productions initiated by ROH2 include: ''Faeries'' (

Will Tuckett Will Tuckett (born 1969) is an English director and Choreography, choreographer, who has created works for many international companies including the Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, and English National Ballet. Early life Tuckett ...

), ''Pleasure's Progress'' (Will Tuckett/

Paul Englishby Paul Englishby is a film and theatre composer, orchestrator, conductor and pianist. He is best known for his Emmy Award-winning jazz score for David Hare's ''Page Eight'', his orchestral score for the Oscar nominated ''An Education'', his BAF ...

), ''Goldberg'' (Kim Brandstrup/

Tamara Rojo Tamara Rojo CBE (born 17 May 1974) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She is the English National Ballet's artistic director (2012–2022) and a lead principal dancer with the company. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. She ...

), ''Ghosts'' (Cathy Marston), ''The Soldier's Tale'' (Will Tuckett), ''Into the Woods'' (Will Tuckett), ''Dalston Songs'' (

Helen Chadwick Helen Chadwick (18 May 1953 – 15 March 1996) was a British sculptor, photographer and installation artist. In 1987, she became one of the first women artists to be nominated for the Turner Prize. Chadwick was known for "challenging stereotypic ...

), ''The Thief of Baghdad'' (Will Tuckett/Paul Englishby), ''Into the Little Hill'' (

John Fulljames John Fulljames (born 1976) is an English opera director who was the director of the Royal Danish Opera from 2017 to 2022. He was Associate Director of Opera at the British Royal Opera from 2011 to 2017. A Cambridge University graduate in Physics, ...

/ George Benjamin), ''The Red Balloon'' (Aletta Collins/Street Furniture), and ''Parthenogenesis'' (

Katie Mitchell Katrina Jane Mitchell (born 23 September 1964) is an English theatre director. Life and career Mitchell was born in Reading, Berkshire, raised in Hermitage, Berkshire, and educated at Oakham School. Upon leaving Oakham, she went up to Magda ...

James MacMillan Sir James Loy MacMillan, (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMi ...

) Significant new work from visiting companies included Opera East with ''

Heart of Darkness ''Heart of Darkness'' (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The novel ...

'' (

Tarik O'Regan Tarik Hamilton O'Regan (; born 1 January 1978) is a British and American composer. His compositions number over 100 and are partially represented on 43 recordings which have been recognised with two Grammy nominations. He is also the recipien ...

/ Tom Phillips),

with ''

In the Penal Colony "In the Penal Colony" ("") (also translated as "In the Penal Settlement") is a short story by Franz Kafka written in German in October 1914, revised in November 1918, and first published in October 1919. As in some of Kafka's other writings, the ...

'' (

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

) and ''Letters of a Love Betrayed'' (

Eleanor Alberga Eleanor Deanne Therese Alberga (born 1949) is a Jamaican contemporary music composer who lives and works in the United Kingdom. Career Eleanor Alberga was born in Kingston, Jamaica. She decided at the age of five to be a concert pianist and ...

English Touring Opera English Touring Opera (ETO) is an opera company in the United Kingdom founded in 1979 under the name Opera 80 by the then-existing Arts Council of Great Britain. In 1992 the company changed to its present name. Today it is sponsored in part by Ar ...

with ''Promised End'' (

Alexander Goehr Peter Alexander Goehr (; born 10 August 1932) is an English composer and academic. Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and composer Walter Goehr, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. In his early twenties he emerged as a centra ...

), Segue with ''Songs from a Hotel Bedroom'' (

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

/Kate Flatt/Peter Rowe), Open Heart Productions with ''God's Garden'' (Arthur Pita), The Opera Group with '' The Enchanted Pig'' (

Jonathan Dove Jonathan Dove (born 18 July 1959) is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birmin ...

Alasdair Middleton Alasdair Middleton is a leading British opera librettist and playwright with librettos commissioned by the Royal Opera House, Opera North and the Berlin Philharmonic among others. He is responsible for a series of important operatic collaborations ...

), Ballet Black with wide-ranging programmes of new dance commissions, Ros Warby as part of Dance Umbrella,

Cleveland Watkiss Cleveland Watkiss, (born 21 October 1959), is a British vocalist, actor, and composer. Biography Cleveland Watkiss was born in Hackney, East London, to Jamaican parents, and was one of nine children. He is the older brother of pianist Trevo ...

and

Nikki Yeoh Nikki Yeoh (born 24 May 1973) is a British jazz pianist who has worked with Courtney Pine, Cleveland Watkiss, Steve Williamson, Chante Moore, The Roots and Neneh Cherry. Born in London, Yeoh is of mixed race origin, having a father from Malay ...

as part of the London Jazz Festival and the Josef Nadj Company, and Jos Houben and Andre and Lefeuvre as part of the

Work for families and young people

ROH2 produced a substantial body of work for family audiences.The Royal Opera House's new work for young people and families produced by ROH2 includes ''Faeries'', ''The Wind in the Willows'', ''Pinocchio'', ''Gentle Giant'', ''Timecode, The'' ''Thief of Baghdad,'' and ''The Red Balloon''.

Artist development initiatives

ROH2 had a commitment to providing a space where artists could take creative risks and explore new ideas. In 2008–09, ROH2 launched a two-year Choreographic Associates program. This was a structured program of professional and creative development opportunities for three emerging

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

s. Participants were offered a range of opportunities across ROH, including working with different departments and identifying areas of special interest for their practice. They also took part in

Wayne McGregor Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a multi award-winning British choreographer and director. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Commander of the ...

's Arrows program alongside members of the Royal Ballet. The Choreographic Associate Program has been continued by the Royal Ballet Studio Program. In 2005, with the support of the Genesis Foundation, ROH2 embarked on an intensive program to promote and encourage opera composition and launch new collaborations between

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

s and librettists. Over four years (2005–2009), OperaGenesis supported over 30 creative teams through workshops, mentoring, and informal showings. The projects ranged from work rooted in the classical tradition through electro-acoustic music, animated opera, choreographic collaborations, and even an opera that eventually became a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

. The Opera Development Programme (2009–2011) at the Royal Opera House was designed to give composers and librettists at a variety of different levels the opportunity to produce new opera. Through courses for composers, librettists, and directors, as well as main stage rehearsal observerships, which allow small groups to watch the rehearsal process of stage and pianos to Sitzproben to stage and orchestras, the program aimed to help young people with less opera/vocal-writing experience develop their skills in writing for opera and the theatre.ROH2 also worked with more established composers, allowing them the time to create new works through week-long workshops. Performances within the program also offered a number of diverse opportunities for composers: * Exposure: Snapshots of New Opera provided opportunities for a variety of emerging composers to perform excerpts from new operas in an informal cabaret setting. * OperaShots: evenings of short operas by composers outside the classical mainstream June 2010 saw works by

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney , D.Mus (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian ...

, Orlando Gough, and

Jocelyn Pook Jocelyn Pook (, rhyming with "book"; born 14 February 1960) is an English composer and viola player. She is known for her scores for many films, including ''Eyes Wide Shut'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and '' The Wife''. Education Pook gradua ...

; April 2011 saw works by

Anne Dudley Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genre ...

(dir. Terry Jones) and Stewart Copeland; and November 2011 saw a new work by Errolyn Wallen and

Bonnie Greer Bonnie Greer, OBE FRSL (born 16 November 1948) is an American-British playwright, novelist, critic and broadcaster, who has lived in the UK since 1986. She has appeared as a panellist on television programmes such as ''Newsnight Review'' and ''Qu ...

. * Chamber Opera Commission: ROH2 commissioned a new opera in the Linbury Studio Theatre, giving exposure to emerging composers of the moment.

Festivals/outside events

Deloitte Ignite, sponsored by

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

, launches the ROH season. Each year, a guest

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

is invited to use the art forms of the ROH as the starting point for a series of commissions, installations, exhibitions, and performances that challenge audiences to see opera, ballet, and contemporary art in new and different ways. The first Deloitte Ignite (2008) was curated by Wayne McGregor and took place over three days, attracting over 9000 people to the ROH. In 2009, Time Out magazine curated the festival, and the world's first

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

opera was born. 2010's festival was curated by

Joanna MacGregor Joanna Clare MacGregor (born 16 July 1959) is a British concert pianist, conductor, composer, and festival curator. She is Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and a professor of the University of London. She is currently artistic direc ...

with an arboreal theme and an eclectic range of music, dance, and film-based installations and live events. 2011 was curated by Mike Figgis and focused on the theme of "Just Tell the Truth." 2012 was an "African weekend," curated by Yinka Shonibare. 2013—the centenary year for

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

and

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

—was curated by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

and lasted for four weeks. 2014 focused on myth and was curated by Minna Moore Ede and the Royal Ballet. ROH2 represented the Royal Opera House at festivals such as

Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

, a boutique festival in

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...

with 23,000 attendees.

References

External links

* {{dead link, date=August 2022 The Royal Ballet Royal Opera House 2012 disestablishments in England Performing groups disestablished in 2012