The idea of Opera for Change is that we're going to take The Magic Flute across Africa on the back of an articulated lorry in 2014. Next month, I'm going to be going on the pilot project, driving from Nairobi to Cape Town. The most important thing we're hoping to do is to find partners to work with, and try and make TRUE collaborations with - we want to use local people in the opera in various different ways, run workshops with them, and also use their experiences, skills, interests and stories to change the direction of the opera itself. A big part of our project is storytelling, and we're also looking at building local stories and myths into the opera.
We'll be visiting Malawi, and have already been in touch with the Lake of Stars. We're looking for schools, choirs, other music groups, festivals, arts organisations, charities, venues, and anyone who might be interested in working with us to devise something new and a little bit different.
I'd be so grateful for any thoughts you have on this and any contacts you might have!
Thank you so much for your time.
With very best wishes,
Lucy Griffiths