In the online Intensive Student Project that was supposed to have happened live in Porto, three sessions with different perspectives on the practice of new opera-making and its future were held. Because of COVID-19 the process went different than planned.

First, in May 2021 students and teachers from the three institutes of WG2 gathered online. The students were commissioned to create together with their peers from other partners, or with their own group, online operas. They had to create music and write a libretto, make a set design, think about the visualization of the ‘narrative’, the use of language and subtitling, and also perform the music and text. And they had to think about the new demands of today: what could an opera be about, what are its characteristics? As an extra limiting and therefore ‘directing’ task the opera couldn’t be longer than 180 seconds.

Since the end of May 2021, 7 groups of students – 2 of them international, the others groups of students from partners from the project – made micro-operas, had its premiere on the three consecutive days of the ISP Preview Porto online festival (Sept. 2021). After this the micro-operas were shown, and the program continued with a reflection about the micro-operas between participating teachers, students and the audience. This was followed by discussions with opera professionals. What are today’s subjects in opera? What are stories about, and how does the use of another medium influence the thinking about opera? How does opera reflect society, or has it taken another form? What is needed according to the field to attract an audience, what developments are happening in the new opera, and what does this require from students? And how should HEI’s adapt their curricula to make sure that the students will have the best career perspective? What is being asked from the voice, do composers work differently, and do HEI’s change the
way techniques are being taught?