Project Butterfly: a new initiative to boost environmental awareness in opera

Project Butterfly, an initiative which aims to explore and promote green practices in opera, has this week released its first call for composers. The new project aims to co-create and co-produce a new opera dedicated to environmental sustainability.

Following a two-day opening event in March (pictured below) at the Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, the project, co-funded by the Creative Europe Project, invites composers to submit applications by the deadline of 17 September to compose for an original, ecologically-aware opera as part of a wider green project.(Image courtesy of Project Butterfly)

The opera created during the Butterfly Project will be composed in three acts each focusing on an environmental theme: water, earth and air. Each act will be written by a different composer-librettist pair and will be co-created with high school students in the project’s three partner countries: Italy, Poland and Finland.

The butterfly Project will be run by a Consortium led by Teatro Comunale di Modena, in collaboration with Opera BOX from Finland and the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk. The sustainability-focused Italian non-profit, AESS will also offer expertise on the project alongside digital storytelling company Heimspiel and Brussels-based communication specialists CUMEDIAE.

The new opera is set to premiere in May 2025 in the project’s three partner theatres: Teatro Pavarotti-Freni Modena, Opera BOX and Opera Bałtycka w Gdańsku as well as online. The final production is expected to strongly rely on digital technology and will include a particular focus on engaging young audience.

You can find more information about the application process on the project website.