Flourish - A New Opera Writing Competition

Flourish is a new opera competition, launched by Olivier Award-winning OperaUpClose in association with Eclectic Opera.

The competition aims to provide a platform for emerging and established composers and librettists, and to raise awareness of the wealth of contemporary opera being written.

Submissions are invited for the first stage of the competition, which will showcase extracts from up to five short-listed operas at the King's Head Theatre on Sunday 30 September 2012. The deadline for submissions is midnight on Sunday 2 September 2012.

A panel of industry judges will choose a winner from the short-listed operas at the event on 30 September. The winning composer and librettist will then have a year to develop the piece, culminating in a full-length production, produced by OperaUpClose at the King's Head Theatre for a seven-performance season over four weeks in autumn 2013.

OperaUpClose is known for work that is large in ambition and small in scale, and the parameters of Flourish reflect this. Composers and librettists are invited to write a piece for up to six performers (divided between singers and instrumentalists as they wish). The winning opera will be provided with a budget for these six performers, a director, designers, stage management and marketing. OperaUpClose and Eclectic Opera will also provide a producer and extensive creative support for the project.

Please send all applications to flourish@kingsheadtheatre.com, or postal applications should be sent to:

Flourish Competition

OperaUpClose

115 Upper Street

London N1 1QN

For further information or interviews, please contact Rachel Lerman: rachel.lerman@kingsheadtheatre.com