Nadine Mortimer Smith, soprano, at the work in progress rehearsal at Opera North, Leeds, Autumn 2010.

In January a small team from Opera Circus will visit India in January 2012.  These are the first steps in developing a real collaboration between artists from the UK and from India to create this new chamber opera, Naciketa.  The music is being written by Nigel Osborne and the libretto has been written by Ariel Dorfman. David Pountney helped with dramaturgical support during a visit to the Bregenz Festival in Austria in August.  We are very grateful to the British Council for covering the costs of this research trip and to many people who have contributed with introductions and have opened doors to the myriad of possibilities that this new work could hold.  We would especially like to thank Nelson Fernandez, Sanjoy Roy, Divya Bhatia and many others.  We will print a full list at the end of our journey.

The hope is that the premiere of this new work will be held in India in 2013 followed by a tour of the continent and then to London and an UK tour.

A documentary will be made following the meetings and events of this journey through to the residency, sharing working practice which we hope will be later this year and finally the creation of the production, the rehearsal period and the first night.

We have been working with the Udayachi schools run by the Godrej family just outside of Mumbai, India where one of the graduates of Nigel Osborne’s Music in the Community course at Edinburgh University has been developing innovative teaching ideas with 96 children from the ages of 7 – 12 with the support and involvement of their teachers. This process will continue and we hope develop.  Meetings have been arranged with several charities and foundations in India working with disadvantaged children and young people with the aim of sharing the company’s skills in the various uses of music when working with children.

Ariel Dorfman will be speaking at the Jaipur Literary Festival between the 20th and 25th January and Nigel Osborne will travel from Jaipur to DAVOS where he has been invited to speak.

If you wish to donate to this work and the development of the opera please go to our Big Give web site – the link is - http://new.thebiggive.org.uk/projects/view/12336

July Summer Music Camp for Children with Special Needs – Mostar and Brijuni.

Nigel Osborne led this year’s summer music camp in Blagaj near Mostar with the Los Rosales orphange and as guests of the Ulysses Theatre on the indescribably beautiful island of Veliki Brijuni with the Centre for Children with Special needs in Pula.

In total 90 children took part from Mostar and Pula, 32 volunteer students from the University of Edinburgh and 10 students of music, psychology and medicine from the regional universities of Croatia, primarily Pula and Rijeka. The Petrojvic Blasting Company, the extraordinary street band from Los Angeles provided great music.

The primary aim of the first camp in Mostar was to offer the children and young people from Los Rosales an enjoyable holiday and an exciting and therapeutic creative experience. The second camp supported the work of one of the main centres for special education in Istria.

The Music Department of the University of Edinburgh has been involved with therapeutic work in the Centre for Children with Special Needs in Pula since 1994, and the summer camp has become an important part of ongoing work. The objectives, amongst other things, are to help build towards social cohesion, communication, trust, reduction of fear, self-confidence, creativity and motivation.

This year 12 young people from Srebrenica, Potocari, Bratunac and Zvornik were invited to join the camp. This was made possible through the funding and organizational support of Opera Circus with the great help of Bauern Helfern Bauern in Austria and the OSCE in Sarajevo, BiH. The young people participated fully in the work with the children, being praised by Professor Osborne for their hard work and commitment. One of the highlights of the trip was a lunch hosted by Rade Serbedzije and Lenka Udovicki. The opportunities this summer camp provides will hopefully be offered to a wider group of young people in 2012.

Opera Circus is the lead organiser of an EU cultural programme called Wake Up, which is in its second year. The aims are to develop cultural partnerships and to promote cultural activity in particular youth leadership through music and theatre as well as to help influence national cultural policies. The other partners in Wake Up include The Institute of Music for Human and Social Development at the University of Edinburgh, UK, Teater Mimart of Belgrade, Serbia and Musicians without Borders both in BiH and the Netherlands. The Youth Council in Srebrenica is an associate partner.

Photograph by Lidjia Antonovic

“‘Opera North is thrilled to be involved in the development of this important and vital new work”

Dominic Gray, Director of Projects, Opera North.

With affiliated partners Opera North and collaborating with the Hebrides Ensemble, Opera Circus presents four work in progress performances of a new commission, Naciketa – a musical epic/opera.

Music by Nigel Osborne and libretto by Ariel Dorfman.

I love it that, in the final scene of our epic/opera, even Death sings along; I love it that all the characters join Naciketa in that concluding, conclusive chorus. Because music was there at the start of our humanity, was there, some say, at the origin of language, as the first agreement with the elements that our species needed, the first understanding of how w are to survive.  Some would say, and I would concur, that music was there before humanity rose and sang of sunsets and sunrises. Some would say music was there at the origin of the sun and the stars that make the universe turn. Some would say that it was in the hope that there would be music that the universe created itself. So it would not be lonely. So we would not entirely die. Ariel Dorfman, May 2010

Performances – all at 7pm/19.00

29 Sept  Howard Assembly Room, Opera North Leeds Box Office: Invitation only  www.operanorth.co.uk

1 Oct Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh (box office details to be advised)

3 Oct Clore Studio, Royal Opera House (box office contact to be advised but invited guests please confirm on tina@operacircus.co.uk)

4 Oct Bridport Arts Centre, Bridport, Dorset. Box office: 01304 424 204 or www.bridport-arts.com

On the 5th October Nigel Osborne and Ariel Dorfman will be in conversation about their work as artists and as human and civil rights activists at the Bridport Arts Centre at 10.30 am. Tickets £5 from Bridport Arts Centre.

There is no charge for the work in progress performances but Ariel and Nigel with the company look forward to discussing opinions about the extracts of the proposed new work with the audience after the 70 minute performance.  Please call the box offices of the relevant venues to reserve a seat as we expect to be full for each evening.

We would like to thank all our sponsors and supporters to date:

ACE, Foyle Foundation, PRS Foundation, RVW Trust, Britten Pears Foundation, Tony Mackintosh, the Groucho Club, Wanda Kim, Kay Ellen Consolver, Leche Trust, The Radcliffe Trust, The Bridport Arts Centre, University of Edinburgh, ROH2 in association with the Royal Opera House and especially Opera North and the Hebrides Ensemble and the Opera Circus Board of Trustees who provide huge support and encouragement to us all.

Click on projects and then Naciketa for further details. Also please view the short film further down on this page and see Nigel and Ariel talking about the beginnings of their work together on Naciketa.

There is a new web site , live this week, which soon will have all the arts and cultural activity in the county listed.  Do go have a look.  Naciketa, our new musical epic/opera, will be at Bridport Arts Centre on the 4th October 2010 at 7pm.  This is a work in progress performance of about 45 minutes of the opera, with a discussion with the composer Nigel Osborne and the writer Ariel Dorfman after the show.  There is free entrance but a donation to help us develop the work will be much appreciated on the night.  We have a maximum of 190 seats so book early.  Full details soon both on this site, and on the Dorset Loves Arts and Bridport Arts Centres web sites.  See Links to the right of this page.

Two young artists Haris Alic and Djordje Sarcevic wrote a rap song called We Are All The Same for their band DnK Crew based in Potocari, Srebrenica.  The band has four members, two Bosniak Muslims and two Serbians. The song lyrics were read out at a concert in Alkmaar in the Netherlands called Songs to Remember on the 4th May 2010 attended by over 350 people.  This event was the first in a series of six events organised as part of an EU Coordination Project (Culture 2007 – 13) developed by Opera Circus with partners Musicians without Borders International and BiH, Teater Mimart, Belgrade Serbia and The University of Edinburgh.  More on this soon.

Here are the song lyrics in a general translation by the Bosnian poet Goran Simic.

I don’t cry anymore because only idiots cry

My poetry lines cry for me after seeing where I live

God, is there anybody in the world to stop this “nationalism rocket”

When I see where I am I stop breathing

I lose my inspiration and stop writing

But I will always call their names

Pederas -  brother

Refrain:

For everything  that happened let your thoughts fly

The spilt tears run down the windows that cover my heart

Tonight I will play without worrying

Tonight I heal my wounds singing songs, my brother

Why do we have to hate each other because somebody wants it

We slaughtered each other even though we didn’t want it

I am the Muslim but I hate nobody

Like a nobody I believe in just one God

Why can’t I go to my neighbour to have a coffee

If some time ago we were cooked together in the same oven

Not in the kitchen but at protests

Why should we all have grim faces

If I am Muslim going to the Mosque

Why do I have to hate Anex and avoid his front yard

Why not have a girlfriend with the name Tanja or Sanja

And marry one of them one day

We live together in the same city suffocating in the same stink

Together we vote for the same Government and sit in the same shade

But unfortunately our minds are cluttered with ugly thoughts

Just let it all be because we are all the same.

In Bosnian/Serbian.

Svi smo isti

Vise ne placem stalno jer samo p**** placu,

Kad vidim u cemu zivim stihovi za mene placu

Boze, ima li ko naovom svetu da moze zaustaviti “ nacionalizam raketu”

Kad vidim gde sam prestanem disat’

Izgubim inspiraciju pa ne mogu pisat’

Al’ zauvijek ja cu njih prozivat

Pederase brate ja cu dissovat

Al’ oni sad vise nisu bitni

Sranje brate spram ovih oni su sitni

Hrvat, Musliman, Srbin il Cigan

Svi smo mi ista bagra niko na ovom svijetu niej pogan

A I ovi matori su se zajedno smejali

Jedan drugom praznike cestitali

A sada decu u nacionalizam vode

Samo zato sto su se klali kod Knezevac vode.

Ref.

Za sve sto je bilo pusti misli da poelte

Sve prolivene suze, srce spustite roletne

Nocas cu da rokam, da se bedam ne smijem

Nocas lijecim rane brate pjevajuci pjesme

Za sve sto je bilo pusti misli da polete

Sve prolivene suze srce spustite roletne

Nocas cu da rokam da se brinem ne smem

Nocas lecim rane buraz pevajuci pesme

Zar moramo da se mrzimo zato sto to neko zeli

Klali smo se I ubijali a to nismo htjeli

Ja jesam musliman I ne mrzim nikoga

Ja vjerujem ko Nooby1 u Boga jednoga

Zasto da ne mogu otici kod komsije na kafu

Kad smo nekad stajali u istome saftu

Ne na namazu nego na protestima

Zasto da nam uvijek budu siva lica svima

Ako sam musliman I idem u dzamiju

Zar moram mriz ANEX-a I obilazti njegovu avliju

Da se zato moja djevojka ne moze zvati Tanja, Sanja

Da se zato ja ne mogu ozenit njima

U istome zivimo gradu u istome se gusimo smradu

Zajedno biramo vladu I sjedimo u istom hladu

Al nazalost glave sun am pune ruznih misli

Okanite se bolan toga jer svi smo mi isti.

Haris Alic I Djordje Sarcevic

Potocari, Srebrenica.

We are raising funding for the work that is being carried out in Srebrenica to support the Children’s Music Theatre and its activities.  There is a young team who are being trained to run music and theatre workshops and to create theatre projects with children.  These young people see the arts and culture as the future of the survival of their town and the villages in the region.  In five years of working they have had no ethnic problems in their theatre and Bosniak and Serbian children and young people work side by side.  We are working with our long term partners Musicians without Borders BiH and wish to raise funding to ensure that this work continues.

http://www.thebiggive.org.uk/#projects&k=Childrens%20Music%20Theatre%20Srebrenica&ob=relevance&od=DESC&ro=0

If you would like to donate please go to this web site and you can donate on line. If this doesn’t open up please find the web link under links on the right hand side of this web page.

Thank you.

(Please hit play for the film to load)

In January Ariel Dorfman, the great Chilean/American writer, and Nigel Osborne, the eminent Scottish composer came to London to work on our new opera or musical epic, Naciketa.  Here is a short piece of film about the birth of the work.  We are raising funding in order to develop a work in progress performance of about an hour of the opera.  This will be shown in Leeds, Edinburgh, London and Bridport Dorset between the 29th September and the 5th October 2010. For more information about the project look at the Naciketa page on this site.  With thanks to everyone who has helped us get this far (a full list on the project page).

(This film is for promotional and fund raising use only and is not for broadcasting. It will take a few seconds to start so please have patience.)

2010 is already proving to be an intriguing and exciting year, from the beautiful exhibition Face to Face in Poole, Dorset with the award winning documentary  Still Life Moving on 23 Feb at the Lighthouse, to the new opera commission, Naciketa, with music by Nigel Osborne and the libretto by Ariel Dorfman and our affiliated partners Opera North and Hebrides Ensemble.  Our work continues in Bosnia and Herzegovina with Musicians without Borders BiH and their extraordinary projects in Srebrenica with the support of the British Council through their Creative Collaborations Partnerships and the Network Social Fund.  Differences in Demolition, the beautiful opera inspired by Sevdah, the music of Bosnia, is being hosted by the OSCE in concert at the Hofberg Palace in Vienna in December.  In Dorset we are exploring a new project dealing with local food and the land through the creative arts and performance called LUNCH.

We will be adding more images to the site shortly, more information and links to several documentaries which are being made around the work in Bosnia including A Gift of Culture.  This is a beautiful film shot at the Foundation for Land and Peace near Sarajevo at the Summer Music Camp run by Nigel Osborne and his students from the Music in the Community Course at The University of Edinburgh.

There are many people we would like to thank for their support, but most of all the artists and company members who have contributed so much to the survival and artistic development of the company over the years.  Next year is our 20 years as an opera/music theatre company and we are planning to celebrate this with the first performance of the new opera Naciketa.

We are a company that works on a project by project basis.  We mostly work on a laptop and mobile phone.  If you need information the best way to make an initial contact is by email.

You will find more information about all these projects on this web site.

Tina Ellen Lee

Artistic Director

Read the lecture on the link at the side.