July 2, 2025 • 24 mins
Ever wondered what drives the International Opera Awards? British entrepreneur Harry Hyman takes us behind the curtain of the Awards, revealing how a passion project has transformed into a pivotal force in the opera world.
The awards serve a triumvirate of purposes - distributing roughly $100,000 annually in bursaries to emerging talents, celebrating excellence across all facets of opera production, and perhaps most crucially, dismantling the elitist stereotypes that keep potential audiences away. "People from a younger generation might be put off by the notion that opera is only for extremely wealthy people, that it's very long and can be very dull," Hyman explains, highlighting the awards' mission to change these perceptions.
What began as a London-based ceremony has blossomed into a truly global celebration, with previous ceremonies hosted in Madrid, Warsaw, and Munich. The 2025 awards will unfold at Athens' Stavros Niarchos Foundation Opera House on November 13th, with nominations open until August 31st. Last year saw over 16,000 nominations flooding in across 24 categories, each carefully evaluated by a distinguished jury of opera experts.
The real magic happens in the careers launched and elevated through these recognitions. Previous Young Singer winners like Ermonela Jaho and Aigul Akhmetshina have rocketed to international acclaim, while bursary recipients gain priceless exposure performing before the opera world's luminaries. As one judge aptly dubbed them, these aren't the Oscars but the "Toscas of opera" - a fitting tribute to an art form that, as Hyman reminds us, speaks to our most fundamental emotions: "lust, envy, love, seduction, deception."
Ready to nominate your opera heroes? Visit operaawards.org and become part of this remarkable celebration of an art form that continues to evolve while honoring its rich traditions.
All episodes are also available in video form on our YouTube Channel. All episodes are hosted by Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bowman.
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Don't hesitate to reach out to us with guest ideas, information you'd like covered, or any ideas you might have—the hope is for this to be a continuous resource and dialogue with our listeners.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Elizabeth Bowman and welcome to the Scene
Room.
Today I have Britishentrepreneur Harry Hyman in the
room.
He is the founder of theInternational Opera Awards.
These awards are happening thisyear in Athens.
They are going to be hosted bythe Greek National Opera on
November 13th.
(00:21):
Nominations are open right now.
Anyone can submit a nomination.
By the way, you can nominateindividuals or companies,
depending on the category, andyou can submit your nominations
until August 31, 2025.
If you're enjoying the podcast,please do like, share, review,
(00:42):
do any of those things.
It really helps keep theseconversations going.
The winners will be announcedat the ceremony on November 13th
, so get in there atoperaawardsorg.
Anyway, I'm delighted to haveHarry here and looking forward
to talking to him about theevolution of these awards and
(01:03):
their role in the industry.
So let's get to it, harry.
Thanks so much for being on theScene Room.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's my pleasure, nice to see you today.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
For my listeners who may not be familiar with you,
can you tell us a little bitabout who you are and your role
with the International OperaAwards?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah for sure.
So I'm an entrepreneur, I workin commercial property by
training, I'm a charteredaccountant, but one of my
passions, which I inherited frommy parents, is the love of
opera.
And within my publishingbusiness, which I have as well,
we run very successful awardceremonies and the idea occurred
to me one day that perhaps weshould have an awards for
(01:43):
international opera and, havingresearched that, I started in
2012 and 2013.
And now the International OperaAwards, I think, is probably
the premier set of awards foropera from around the world.
But commercial property is mybusiness and International Opera
Awards is run as a pro bonoproject, really, in order to
generate funds for aspiringtalent in opera, to whom we give
(02:05):
bursaries each year.
As a pro bono project, really,in order to generate funds for
aspiring talents in opera, towhom we give bursaries each year
.
Something around $100,000 eachyear we give out and this really
helps young people notnecessarily young, but mainly
young people and mainly singers,but not exclusively singers to
develop their careers within thewonderful world of opera.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Amazing.
Can you remember the firstopera that you saw?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, it was La Clemenza di Tito, which was not
perhaps the most thrilling operato see, but it was a nice,
quite traditional production atthe Opera House, Royal Opera
House in London.
But the second one I saw wasTurin Lutz, a wonderful
production, and that really gotme hooked, Although my tastes
have changed and moved on andthey're quite cosmopolitan.
But I think opera is like awonderful art form, a
(02:43):
combination of music and singingand drama and scenery, and it
talks about the basic humanemotions lust, envy, love,
seduction, deception and I thinkit's a wonderful cultural form,
very expensive cultural form,but a wonderful one nonetheless.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I'm also from an operatic background, so I
absolutely agree with you and Ithink that really anyone who
goes into experience opera it'scertainly an experience that I
wish more people would have, andobviously part of the role of
this podcast is talking aboutmarketing strategies for the
performing arts and a lot aboutsymphony and opera and how to
(03:22):
get people into the halls toexperience that in an effective
community growing way, andthat's also why you're on the
podcast, because I think thatthe role of the International
Opera Awards is really important.
You mentioned that you'regiving bursaries to emerging
artists, which is an importantrole, but also in terms of the
visibility of the industryacross the world.
(03:45):
So thank you, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And I think our aims are really threefold A, to
provide those bursaries that Italked about, but secondly, to
recognize and reward success,because I think that's a kind of
a basic human emotion to bethanked and celebrated if you've
done something particularlywell and people who receive our
awards and companies thatreceive our awards are over the
moon about it.
Frankly, and very importantly,to kind of raise the profile of
(04:09):
opera and perhaps remove some ofthe mystique or the things that
turn people off opera.
And, interestingly, in thisyear's awards, which will be
held in Athens in NovemberNovember the 13th to be precise
we're introducing a new categorycalled musical theatre, and I
don't want to do down the wordopera, because we all understand
what opera is and there's a lotof merit in it.
(04:30):
But people who are from adifferent generation, much
younger, they, might be put offby the notion that opera is only
for extremely wealthy people,that it's very long and it can
be very dull and that you haveto put on a tux in order to go
and see an opera, which iscertainly not true, and pretty
much all the opera houses thatI've been to have programs for
younger people and a lot ofoutreach to take the joys of
(04:53):
music into schools and prisonsand unusual situations where
people may not have had theopportunity of benefiting from
experiencing music and singingin a live format.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
It's funny to think about opera in terms of this
elitist form.
I guess the perception isbrought home by its portrayal in
movies and television as well,because often when they're going
to the opera they do dress intuxes.
Then you think of thestorylines in these productions
and the humanity of it all, andreally that's what it is.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
It's just underscoring everyday emotions,
or an autocrat, a traviataoperas like that, which have
storylines that are kind of likeeternal, I guess, and they can
(05:50):
be presented in lots ofdifferent settings rather than
just necessarily the traditionalsettings.
But I think a combination is agood idea.
Anyway, I don't judge theawards.
I want to make that perfectlyclear.
I facilitate them because Idon't have the vast range of
experience that our panel ofjurors, which is something like
24 Strong, headed by JohnAllison of Opera Magazine, who
now incorporates Opera News.
(06:11):
They really have seen the bestin opera from each year and, of
course, it's open to anyone tonominate.
Last year we had just over16,000 entries from around the
world and if you go to ourwebsite, which is operaawardsorg
, you'll be able to nominate forthis year and I encourage
people to do that.
If you don't nominate someone,they can't win.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
In terms of the nomination, do you get one
nomination per person, like peremail?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
address.
Well, we monitor it becausesome people try to get their
entire extended family tonominate themselves.
So we have to go through asieve in order to eliminate
those people who may have beengaming the system.
But no, I guess it's sort ofone nomination per email address
for each category, but we havelike 24 or 25 categories this
year, so there's plenty of scopefor people to nominate.
(06:59):
And I think it's rather nice ifsomeone who's been to see a
wonderful performance gets thechance to nominate the director
or the lighting designer or thecostume designer or the
orchestra or the chorus or anyof the singers.
And you know, I guess theremust be hundreds of people
involved in most large operacompany productions, not just
the people on stage, theorchestra, the chorus.
(07:21):
I was at a wonderful productionof Simon Bocanegra at Grange
Park Opera the other day and thechorus was like 50 people it
was about the same as theorchestra, I guess.
And so that's, you know,leaving aside the principal
singers, of whom there mighthave been six, that's like 106,
110 people without including thepeople who designed the
costumes, the sets, etc.
(07:42):
Etc.
So I think it's a magnificententerprise, and to pull off an
opera is, I guess.
I'm sure something goes wrongin each performance and it's a
question of getting throughwithout too many people noticing
, I guess.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
They're all professionals.
The show must go on Exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Exactly, I was talking to quite a famous tenor,
someone who's won one of ourawards historically I won't say
whom and he was recounting anexperience when he was singing
in Turandot, as it happens, andthe two singers just missed out
a whole part of the aria.
I don't know what happened.
They lost concentration and theconductor kind of recovered the
position and the orchestra kindof twigged and on they went,
(08:19):
and I don't think that manypeople would have noticed, you
know.
So it's like amazing.
That's the joy, isn't it, oflive performance you don't know
quite what's going to happenyeah, and then the story is
after, when you hear about it,can I?
Speaker 1 (08:31):
know how the the awards have evolved like in the
first iteration of these awards.
How many awards did you giveout and what have you added?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Well, my experience in awards from the commercial
side means that I think it'srather difficult to have more
than 20, between 20 and 25,because the audience generally
lose concentration and itbecomes a little bit tedious.
So that's our working number.
Originally we started doing itas a dinner with an awards and
now we split the two becausemany people who come to the
(09:02):
awards don't want to go to thedinner and people who come to
the dinner, they don't want tosit through the awards, they
want to have a gala and awonderful time and hopefully
donate us a lot of money.
The second way it's changed isthat in lockdown, which has had
an enormous impact on everythingreally in society, we managed
to pull off the awards in 21 tocover the lockdown period, and
(09:23):
it was so successful doing itonline and virtually.
I had people ringing me upsaying how did you manage to do
all that and coordinate?
And I had to kind of say tothem well, of course it was all
pre-recorded, but one of thethings that came out of the
pandemic was that up to thatstage, we done everything in
London and that's home for me,but it isn't necessarily the
home of every opera company inthe world, obviously, and so
(09:43):
since then we've goneinternational and we tend to use
the awards with the receivinghouse that hosts it as a kind of
showcase for its own country,its music and its singers, and
Juan Matabosh, who is in chargeof the Teatro Real in Madrid,
was the first person to offerthat to us.
Back in 22, I think In 23, wewent to Warsaw.
(10:07):
We were supposed to go toUkraine but for obvious reasons
we couldn't go there.
And in 24, we went to theBayerische Staatsoper in Munich.
And in 25, we're going to thenew opera house, the Stavros
Niarchos Foundation Opera House,near Athens or in Athens, and I
have a fond hope that one daywe'll be able to come to America
or outside of the Europeancontinent.
(10:28):
But these things are quitedifficult to organise
logistically.
But I have been talking to aparticular opera house which is
celebrating an importantanniversary next year about
whether we could do it there,but I'm I'm not.
I can't tell you who it is atthe moment because it's not
confirmed but that would bereally great if we could do that
well.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I think it's a privilege for an opera company
to host the international operaawards and showcase also the
relationships with the otherhouses around the world and have
all these general directorspresent as well.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Young singers, their orchestra, their national music,
everything that they want toput onto a world stage.
Because we screen this andthat's another way the awards
have changed we now, with OperaEuropa, we screen the event live
and then we have it availableon our website in an edited
format forever, and that, Ithink, is a very good way to
(11:20):
cover off time zones.
It's more environmentallyfriendly, people don't have to
travel there to see it and it'sthere as a as a record and the
show, which is probably twohours long, with a short
interval in the middle.
It's a very good celebration ofopera.
The people who've won hopefullyare able to attend, and one of
the judges has called our awardsthe Tosca's of opera not the
(11:42):
Oscars, but the Tosca's and Ithink people around you know
people like me are always verypleased and they show their
award and show it with pride.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I also love that you guys have a really spectacular
red carpet spectacular redcarpet, so you really treat it
like the Oscars and you have anemerging artist that often acts
as a roving reporter, right Likeinterviews the more seasoned
artists, which I think is areally great networking tool and
(12:12):
it's brilliant profile for ourbursary winners.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
We normally have at least one bursary winner from
the year before who we allow tosing.
We had a particular favouriteof mine, jack Holton, who was
really made up about singing.
You know he had VladimirJourovsky conducting the
orchestra of the BayerischeStaatsoper in front of maybe 300
or 400 people from around operain the world.
That was a brilliantopportunity for him and that's
(12:35):
great for our bursary winners toget profiled.
So it's not just about themoney, it's about the
connections that can be made asa result of being a bursary
winner.
So I mean, that's the bursaries, but equally from the awards,
the Young Singer of the Year.
We've had some fantastic peoplewho've won Justina Gringaita, I
think, ermanella Yaho won,we've got Egil Kotmansmansina
(12:56):
who's won, and so on we go, andthis is just brilliant for these
people's careers.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah, really fantastic.
I know Joyce Elkhoury hasperformed at the awards before.
She's a wonderful soprano andwas a client of mine at the time
.
That was a great opportunity,and also Wallace Junta.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, she's amazing, she's amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Do you think the definition of excellence in
opera is changing, even thoughit's a historic art form and and
these things, or I guess withthe addition of digital tools
and that kind of thing, the artform is somewhat transforming.
So the way one might judgeopera have to add these in, I
guess.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah, I think it's.
I think it's inevitable astechnology changes.
And to me, this is my.
I think it's inevitable astechnology changes.
And to me this is my personalview, it's not the view of the
judges.
I don't mind if things are alittle bit mic'd, hence musical
theatre.
You know, is Verona mic'd or isit not mic'd?
I think it's throw mic'd and tome it's a little bit of a.
You know, I know some peoplereally object to it, and that's
(14:03):
fine.
You know, that would be more ofa traditional performance in in
a theater.
But not everything needs to beproduced in the theater.
And al fresco productions,nothing wrong with them, and I
so I've got very catholic tastesand so you know, uh, so to me
it doesn't matter, but that's myview, it's not.
It's not the view of the judges, because I'm not a judge yeah,
no, it's.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
it's interesting because you they have the high
definition cinematography showsnow, which are obviously the way
those are produced.
They're live performances, butI mean, it's incredible what
they're able to do.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Well, in a way it's it's you want to see it two ways
.
Somebody described it as a sortof a brilliant close up and
having the interviews withsomeone like Rene Fleming
interviewing someone,immediately they've come off
stage, it's like reallyfascinating and I think that's
really interesting, but to methat's always a bit 2D right
right and I think, I think operais really a 3D experience, but
(14:49):
you know, I mean it's.
It's one way of seeing a newwork.
I saw a brilliant new work fromPeter Gelb's Met, the one about
the drone pilot oh yeah,grounded grounded.
Yeah, I mean, I saw that in thecinema.
It was amazing, it really wasamazing.
I'd rather gone to the met, butyou know, that's quite a,
that's quite a big adventure tosee one, one, one opera and one
(15:09):
performance I was there atopening night in person, emily
d'angelo was just yeah,fantastic and such a powerful
theme and topic.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Yeah, you know, I mean the reviews were polarizing
though for that show.
It was interesting to readabout it after the fact, having
been there to see it, I liked it.
I mean, I also am just a hugefan of Emily D'Angelo's
instrument.
Like she's just so even acrossthe board, like when she sings
(15:40):
it's just able to connect tothat character and encouraging
new audiences to come to opera.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And if they come to that, maybe they'll then say,
well, why don't I go and seeTraviata or Aida or something
more traditional?
So I think it's a good way togo and I really respect Peter
for for doing that, because Ithink it's a good way to go and
I really respect peter for fordoing that, because I think it's
it's not at all easy.
Uh, and I'm sure it's quitebold.
Uh, here in london operaholland park, which is a lovely
festival outdoors, slightlycovered, they did a wonderful
(16:10):
new opera by called itch byjonathan dove, which is about
environmentalism, and when, whenit premiered, there was a lot
of young people in the audience,a lot of young people in the
audience.
So that's really great to seebecause that's the future of
opera yeah, exactly, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
So when one looks at the value of these various
outreach tools, like the highdefinition film, of course, that
eventually you're going to wantto move the experience into the
real thing, and I guess that'sthe same with really any any
experience that you watch a showand then you're like, well,
maybe you know I'm really intosome sort of football or
(16:47):
something.
You know I like watchingfootball on a tv, but maybe one
day you don't want to go to thestadium and it is an entirely
different experience yeah,there's a brilliant opera by by
turnage called the silver Tassie, which I can't work out why it
was never.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
It hasn't been done again.
It was done by the ENO and Iwent to the English National
Opera and I went to the premiere.
It's about a football matchbetween the British and German
troops.
It's a true story.
On Christmas Day sometime inthe First World War they put
down their arms and had afootball match and then went
back to killing each other thenext day.
It's a pretty extraordinarystory, and football is a big
connector, isn't it?
(17:22):
And sport is a big connector.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
So are you a sports fan?
Do you have a team?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, yeah, I like British sports, so rugby, uh,
rugby union and and cricket soit's a bit different from
american football and andbaseball and ice hockey.
But I like all sorts of sportsso it's a question of fitting it
all in.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
I was born in durham, so I have right okay the
british blood in me, and myparents live in winchester, so
it's you can't get much moreblue blooded than winchester.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
It's a beautiful.
It's a beautiful city with abeautiful river going through
it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
It's very idyllic yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I do I do like going.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
I'm going in, I think , next week, to visit them.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Come and say hello when you're in London.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, so wonderful to have Harry Hyman on as a guest
and to learn more about theinternational opera awards.
That marks the final episode ofseason one of the Scene Room.
When I launched the Scene Room,it was with one mission to
spotlight the movers and makers,redefining the performing arts,
(18:27):
not just the work they create,but the way they lead,
collaborate and connect.
In a time of shifting audiences, evolving platforms and new
pressures, I wanted to know howare artists and organizations
responding?
Reimagining, rebuilding andreally season one is tip of the
(18:50):
iceberg.
I feel like we're just gettingstarted.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
On social media specifically, we always
recommend a three-legged stoolof content.
Sometimes artists get a littletoo self-focused or can get to
the point of having theiraudiences be alienated because
it's a little too promotional.
The question of do we serve theart?
Speaker 1 (19:07):
or do we serve the community?
Do we serve the art or do weserve the customer?
You know versions of thatquestion.
First off, not mutuallyexclusive.
Season one was a conversationacross disciplines about
marketing and movement,leadership and legacy, but more
than anything it was aboutpeople, artists and
administrators with vision, gritand generosity.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
When you sign up to buy a certain pair of shoes,
they want your email and yourcell phone number to be able to
send marketing to your phones,your email and your cell phone
number to be able to sendmarketing to your phones.
So the way that we can targetwho gets certain emails, who you
can leave off, who you caninclude, it seems like the
fundamentals of advertisingdon't apply to many symphony
orchestras and it's just verypuzzling to me.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
It's interesting.
I was just talking the otherday with Andrew Taylor, who runs
the Arts Administration Programat American University in
Washington, and he was sort ofsaying what advice do you have
for students who are comingthrough these programs now?
And I would say definitely,given the world that we're in
and that we're heading into, thereliance on the old systems and
the old models I think issetting people up for failure,
even with movie premieres of newfilms, when that can happen, it
(20:14):
does bring people out and itgets media coverage and people
are discovering that cinema isnot dead.
Speaker 9 (20:20):
It's definitely like everything else is changing and
our habits are changing, but itstill is a draw.
Having a human experience,sharing an experience on film in
a dark room with strangersstill has an appeal.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
And what I heard again and again were the stories
behind the stories, the unseenlabor, the creative pivots, the
personal truths behind theperforming arts.
Speaker 7 (20:46):
Success is defined locally, and it doesn't matter
how smart you are.
It doesn't matter whatstrategies you think you may
have access to.
It's ultimately about.
Are you doing good for thecommunity?
Speaker 4 (20:56):
The way that I design a sound in a cast is almost
like if I was going to sing itright.
So it's very personal whichcolors, which sounds, which
personalities I feel are goingto transmit what I want to say
in that piece.
And that's my little part thatI add to whatever the conductor,
the performer, the designer,the director does.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
I've given up on reviews.
I've given up on somebody elsedoing any PR for us.
I think we can be the media now.
That's why I have my ownpodcast.
That's why I have in charge ofall of my social channels.
That's why I have help with allof my social channels.
We are the media now.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
These conversations weren't about perfection.
They were about process, andthey showed me that the future
of the arts is being written bythe people who are listening,
adapting and showing up withclarity and courage.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
And that's the formation of the new audience
coming into the opera house.
Maybe those students become newfans, become new donors, become
opera singers themselves.
You know, that's how wecontinue our business forward.
Speaker 7 (21:58):
We do have some fantastic faculty here who are
really quite adept at helpingstudents sometimes get out of
their comfort zone.
Right, If you're used tospending all of your time
playing the clarinet really wellin a practice room or in an
orchestra, you have to practice.
You have to practice gettingout in front of people and being
able to talk to them about yourart form.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
If you've been tuning in, thank you.
Thank you for caring about thisworld and for helping build a
room where new ideas,connections, perspectives can
take shape.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
My advice would be just listen to yourself.
Follow that road, becausethat's the road that is speaking
to you and you need to listento yourself.
Look that road, because that'sthe road that is speaking to you
and you need to listen toyourself.
Speaker 10 (22:38):
Look what Kronos did .
I think one direction that weare very interested in going is
actually younger and to yourpoint building the future
audience goers, building thefuture instrument learners,
building the future musicteachers, but also building
future scientists, buildingfuture engineers, building
future writers.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
While season two is already in motion and I can't
wait to share more about what'snext.
In the meantime, you can shareepisodes, you can like episodes,
you can talk about the podcast,you can donate to the podcast
on thesceneroomcom.
You can help in a variety ofways.
(23:17):
So thank you for your supportand we will see you in season
two.
Thank you.
Hi, I'm Elizabeth Bowman and welcome to the Scene
Room.
Today I have Britishentrepreneur Harry Hyman in the
room.
He is the founder of theInternational Opera Awards.
These awards are happening thisyear in Athens.
They are going to be hosted bythe Greek National Opera on
November 13th.
(00:21):
Nominations are open right now.
Anyone can submit a nomination.
By the way, you can nominateindividuals or companies,
depending on the category, andyou can submit your nominations
until August 31, 2025.
If you're enjoying the podcast,please do like, share, review,
(00:42):
do any of those things.
It really helps keep theseconversations going.
The winners will be announcedat the ceremony on November 13th
, so get in there atoperaawardsorg.
Anyway, I'm delighted to haveHarry here and looking forward
to talking to him about theevolution of these awards and
(01:03):
their role in the industry.
So let's get to it, harry.
Thanks so much for being on theScene Room.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's my pleasure, nice to see you today.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
For my listeners who may not be familiar with you,
can you tell us a little bitabout who you are and your role
with the International OperaAwards?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah for sure.
So I'm an entrepreneur, I workin commercial property by
training, I'm a charteredaccountant, but one of my
passions, which I inherited frommy parents, is the love of
opera.
And within my publishingbusiness, which I have as well,
we run very successful awardceremonies and the idea occurred
to me one day that perhaps weshould have an awards for
(01:43):
international opera and, havingresearched that, I started in
2012 and 2013.
And now the International OperaAwards, I think, is probably
the premier set of awards foropera from around the world.
But commercial property is mybusiness and International Opera
Awards is run as a pro bonoproject, really, in order to
generate funds for aspiringtalent in opera, to whom we give
(02:05):
bursaries each year.
As a pro bono project, really,in order to generate funds for
aspiring talents in opera, towhom we give bursaries each year
.
Something around $100,000 eachyear we give out and this really
helps young people notnecessarily young, but mainly
young people and mainly singers,but not exclusively singers to
develop their careers within thewonderful world of opera.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Amazing.
Can you remember the firstopera that you saw?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, it was La Clemenza di Tito, which was not
perhaps the most thrilling operato see, but it was a nice,
quite traditional production atthe Opera House, Royal Opera
House in London.
But the second one I saw wasTurin Lutz, a wonderful
production, and that really gotme hooked, Although my tastes
have changed and moved on andthey're quite cosmopolitan.
But I think opera is like awonderful art form, a
(02:43):
combination of music and singingand drama and scenery, and it
talks about the basic humanemotions lust, envy, love,
seduction, deception and I thinkit's a wonderful cultural form,
very expensive cultural form,but a wonderful one nonetheless.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I'm also from an operatic background, so I
absolutely agree with you and Ithink that really anyone who
goes into experience opera it'scertainly an experience that I
wish more people would have, andobviously part of the role of
this podcast is talking aboutmarketing strategies for the
performing arts and a lot aboutsymphony and opera and how to
(03:22):
get people into the halls toexperience that in an effective
community growing way, andthat's also why you're on the
podcast, because I think thatthe role of the International
Opera Awards is really important.
You mentioned that you'regiving bursaries to emerging
artists, which is an importantrole, but also in terms of the
visibility of the industryacross the world.
(03:45):
So thank you, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And I think our aims are really threefold A, to
provide those bursaries that Italked about, but secondly, to
recognize and reward success,because I think that's a kind of
a basic human emotion to bethanked and celebrated if you've
done something particularlywell and people who receive our
awards and companies thatreceive our awards are over the
moon about it.
Frankly, and very importantly,to kind of raise the profile of
(04:09):
opera and perhaps remove some ofthe mystique or the things that
turn people off opera.
And, interestingly, in thisyear's awards, which will be
held in Athens in NovemberNovember the 13th to be precise
we're introducing a new categorycalled musical theatre, and I
don't want to do down the wordopera, because we all understand
what opera is and there's a lotof merit in it.
(04:30):
But people who are from adifferent generation, much
younger, they, might be put offby the notion that opera is only
for extremely wealthy people,that it's very long and it can
be very dull and that you haveto put on a tux in order to go
and see an opera, which iscertainly not true, and pretty
much all the opera houses thatI've been to have programs for
younger people and a lot ofoutreach to take the joys of
(04:53):
music into schools and prisonsand unusual situations where
people may not have had theopportunity of benefiting from
experiencing music and singingin a live format.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
It's funny to think about opera in terms of this
elitist form.
I guess the perception isbrought home by its portrayal in
movies and television as well,because often when they're going
to the opera they do dress intuxes.
Then you think of thestorylines in these productions
and the humanity of it all, andreally that's what it is.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
It's just underscoring everyday emotions,
or an autocrat, a traviataoperas like that, which have
storylines that are kind of likeeternal, I guess, and they can
(05:50):
be presented in lots ofdifferent settings rather than
just necessarily the traditionalsettings.
But I think a combination is agood idea.
Anyway, I don't judge theawards.
I want to make that perfectlyclear.
I facilitate them because Idon't have the vast range of
experience that our panel ofjurors, which is something like
24 Strong, headed by JohnAllison of Opera Magazine, who
now incorporates Opera News.
(06:11):
They really have seen the bestin opera from each year and, of
course, it's open to anyone tonominate.
Last year we had just over16,000 entries from around the
world and if you go to ourwebsite, which is operaawardsorg
, you'll be able to nominate forthis year and I encourage
people to do that.
If you don't nominate someone,they can't win.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
In terms of the nomination, do you get one
nomination per person, like peremail?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
address.
Well, we monitor it becausesome people try to get their
entire extended family tonominate themselves.
So we have to go through asieve in order to eliminate
those people who may have beengaming the system.
But no, I guess it's sort ofone nomination per email address
for each category, but we havelike 24 or 25 categories this
year, so there's plenty of scopefor people to nominate.
(06:59):
And I think it's rather nice ifsomeone who's been to see a
wonderful performance gets thechance to nominate the director
or the lighting designer or thecostume designer or the
orchestra or the chorus or anyof the singers.
And you know, I guess theremust be hundreds of people
involved in most large operacompany productions, not just
the people on stage, theorchestra, the chorus.
(07:21):
I was at a wonderful productionof Simon Bocanegra at Grange
Park Opera the other day and thechorus was like 50 people it
was about the same as theorchestra, I guess.
And so that's, you know,leaving aside the principal
singers, of whom there mighthave been six, that's like 106,
110 people without including thepeople who designed the
costumes, the sets, etc.
(07:42):
Etc.
So I think it's a magnificententerprise, and to pull off an
opera is, I guess.
I'm sure something goes wrongin each performance and it's a
question of getting throughwithout too many people noticing
, I guess.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
They're all professionals.
The show must go on Exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Exactly, I was talking to quite a famous tenor,
someone who's won one of ourawards historically I won't say
whom and he was recounting anexperience when he was singing
in Turandot, as it happens, andthe two singers just missed out
a whole part of the aria.
I don't know what happened.
They lost concentration and theconductor kind of recovered the
position and the orchestra kindof twigged and on they went,
(08:19):
and I don't think that manypeople would have noticed, you
know.
So it's like amazing.
That's the joy, isn't it, oflive performance you don't know
quite what's going to happenyeah, and then the story is
after, when you hear about it,can I?
Speaker 1 (08:31):
know how the the awards have evolved like in the
first iteration of these awards.
How many awards did you giveout and what have you added?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Well, my experience in awards from the commercial
side means that I think it'srather difficult to have more
than 20, between 20 and 25,because the audience generally
lose concentration and itbecomes a little bit tedious.
So that's our working number.
Originally we started doing itas a dinner with an awards and
now we split the two becausemany people who come to the
(09:02):
awards don't want to go to thedinner and people who come to
the dinner, they don't want tosit through the awards, they
want to have a gala and awonderful time and hopefully
donate us a lot of money.
The second way it's changed isthat in lockdown, which has had
an enormous impact on everythingreally in society, we managed
to pull off the awards in 21 tocover the lockdown period, and
(09:23):
it was so successful doing itonline and virtually.
I had people ringing me upsaying how did you manage to do
all that and coordinate?
And I had to kind of say tothem well, of course it was all
pre-recorded, but one of thethings that came out of the
pandemic was that up to thatstage, we done everything in
London and that's home for me,but it isn't necessarily the
home of every opera company inthe world, obviously, and so
(09:43):
since then we've goneinternational and we tend to use
the awards with the receivinghouse that hosts it as a kind of
showcase for its own country,its music and its singers, and
Juan Matabosh, who is in chargeof the Teatro Real in Madrid,
was the first person to offerthat to us.
Back in 22, I think In 23, wewent to Warsaw.
(10:07):
We were supposed to go toUkraine but for obvious reasons
we couldn't go there.
And in 24, we went to theBayerische Staatsoper in Munich.
And in 25, we're going to thenew opera house, the Stavros
Niarchos Foundation Opera House,near Athens or in Athens, and I
have a fond hope that one daywe'll be able to come to America
or outside of the Europeancontinent.
(10:28):
But these things are quitedifficult to organise
logistically.
But I have been talking to aparticular opera house which is
celebrating an importantanniversary next year about
whether we could do it there,but I'm I'm not.
I can't tell you who it is atthe moment because it's not
confirmed but that would bereally great if we could do that
well.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I think it's a privilege for an opera company
to host the international operaawards and showcase also the
relationships with the otherhouses around the world and have
all these general directorspresent as well.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Young singers, their orchestra, their national music,
everything that they want toput onto a world stage.
Because we screen this andthat's another way the awards
have changed we now, with OperaEuropa, we screen the event live
and then we have it availableon our website in an edited
format forever, and that, Ithink, is a very good way to
(11:20):
cover off time zones.
It's more environmentallyfriendly, people don't have to
travel there to see it and it'sthere as a as a record and the
show, which is probably twohours long, with a short
interval in the middle.
It's a very good celebration ofopera.
The people who've won hopefullyare able to attend, and one of
the judges has called our awardsthe Tosca's of opera not the
(11:42):
Oscars, but the Tosca's and Ithink people around you know
people like me are always verypleased and they show their
award and show it with pride.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I also love that you guys have a really spectacular
red carpet spectacular redcarpet, so you really treat it
like the Oscars and you have anemerging artist that often acts
as a roving reporter, right Likeinterviews the more seasoned
artists, which I think is areally great networking tool and
(12:12):
it's brilliant profile for ourbursary winners.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
We normally have at least one bursary winner from
the year before who we allow tosing.
We had a particular favouriteof mine, jack Holton, who was
really made up about singing.
You know he had VladimirJourovsky conducting the
orchestra of the BayerischeStaatsoper in front of maybe 300
or 400 people from around operain the world.
That was a brilliantopportunity for him and that's
(12:35):
great for our bursary winners toget profiled.
So it's not just about themoney, it's about the
connections that can be made asa result of being a bursary
winner.
So I mean, that's the bursaries, but equally from the awards,
the Young Singer of the Year.
We've had some fantastic peoplewho've won Justina Gringaita, I
think, ermanella Yaho won,we've got Egil Kotmansmansina
(12:56):
who's won, and so on we go, andthis is just brilliant for these
people's careers.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah, really fantastic.
I know Joyce Elkhoury hasperformed at the awards before.
She's a wonderful soprano andwas a client of mine at the time
.
That was a great opportunity,and also Wallace Junta.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, she's amazing, she's amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Do you think the definition of excellence in
opera is changing, even thoughit's a historic art form and and
these things, or I guess withthe addition of digital tools
and that kind of thing, the artform is somewhat transforming.
So the way one might judgeopera have to add these in, I
guess.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah, I think it's.
I think it's inevitable astechnology changes.
And to me, this is my.
I think it's inevitable astechnology changes.
And to me this is my personalview, it's not the view of the
judges.
I don't mind if things are alittle bit mic'd, hence musical
theatre.
You know, is Verona mic'd or isit not mic'd?
I think it's throw mic'd and tome it's a little bit of a.
You know, I know some peoplereally object to it, and that's
(14:03):
fine.
You know, that would be more ofa traditional performance in in
a theater.
But not everything needs to beproduced in the theater.
And al fresco productions,nothing wrong with them, and I
so I've got very catholic tastesand so you know, uh, so to me
it doesn't matter, but that's myview, it's not.
It's not the view of the judges, because I'm not a judge yeah,
no, it's.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
it's interesting because you they have the high
definition cinematography showsnow, which are obviously the way
those are produced.
They're live performances, butI mean, it's incredible what
they're able to do.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Well, in a way it's it's you want to see it two ways
.
Somebody described it as a sortof a brilliant close up and
having the interviews withsomeone like Rene Fleming
interviewing someone,immediately they've come off
stage, it's like reallyfascinating and I think that's
really interesting, but to methat's always a bit 2D right
right and I think, I think operais really a 3D experience, but
(14:49):
you know, I mean it's.
It's one way of seeing a newwork.
I saw a brilliant new work fromPeter Gelb's Met, the one about
the drone pilot oh yeah,grounded grounded.
Yeah, I mean, I saw that in thecinema.
It was amazing, it really wasamazing.
I'd rather gone to the met, butyou know, that's quite a,
that's quite a big adventure tosee one, one, one opera and one
(15:09):
performance I was there atopening night in person, emily
d'angelo was just yeah,fantastic and such a powerful
theme and topic.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Yeah, you know, I mean the reviews were polarizing
though for that show.
It was interesting to readabout it after the fact, having
been there to see it, I liked it.
I mean, I also am just a hugefan of Emily D'Angelo's
instrument.
Like she's just so even acrossthe board, like when she sings
(15:40):
it's just able to connect tothat character and encouraging
new audiences to come to opera.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And if they come to that, maybe they'll then say,
well, why don't I go and seeTraviata or Aida or something
more traditional?
So I think it's a good way togo and I really respect Peter
for for doing that, because Ithink it's a good way to go and
I really respect peter for fordoing that, because I think it's
it's not at all easy.
Uh, and I'm sure it's quitebold.
Uh, here in london operaholland park, which is a lovely
festival outdoors, slightlycovered, they did a wonderful
(16:10):
new opera by called itch byjonathan dove, which is about
environmentalism, and when, whenit premiered, there was a lot
of young people in the audience,a lot of young people in the
audience.
So that's really great to seebecause that's the future of
opera yeah, exactly, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
So when one looks at the value of these various
outreach tools, like the highdefinition film, of course, that
eventually you're going to wantto move the experience into the
real thing, and I guess that'sthe same with really any any
experience that you watch a showand then you're like, well,
maybe you know I'm really intosome sort of football or
(16:47):
something.
You know I like watchingfootball on a tv, but maybe one
day you don't want to go to thestadium and it is an entirely
different experience yeah,there's a brilliant opera by by
turnage called the silver Tassie, which I can't work out why it
was never.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
It hasn't been done again.
It was done by the ENO and Iwent to the English National
Opera and I went to the premiere.
It's about a football matchbetween the British and German
troops.
It's a true story.
On Christmas Day sometime inthe First World War they put
down their arms and had afootball match and then went
back to killing each other thenext day.
It's a pretty extraordinarystory, and football is a big
connector, isn't it?
(17:22):
And sport is a big connector.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
So are you a sports fan?
Do you have a team?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, yeah, I like British sports, so rugby, uh,
rugby union and and cricket soit's a bit different from
american football and andbaseball and ice hockey.
But I like all sorts of sportsso it's a question of fitting it
all in.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
I was born in durham, so I have right okay the
british blood in me, and myparents live in winchester, so
it's you can't get much moreblue blooded than winchester.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
It's a beautiful.
It's a beautiful city with abeautiful river going through
it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
It's very idyllic yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I do I do like going.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
I'm going in, I think , next week, to visit them.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Come and say hello when you're in London.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, so wonderful to have Harry Hyman on as a guest
and to learn more about theinternational opera awards.
That marks the final episode ofseason one of the Scene Room.
When I launched the Scene Room,it was with one mission to
spotlight the movers and makers,redefining the performing arts,
(18:27):
not just the work they create,but the way they lead,
collaborate and connect.
In a time of shifting audiences, evolving platforms and new
pressures, I wanted to know howare artists and organizations
responding?
Reimagining, rebuilding andreally season one is tip of the
(18:50):
iceberg.
I feel like we're just gettingstarted.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
On social media specifically, we always
recommend a three-legged stoolof content.
Sometimes artists get a littletoo self-focused or can get to
the point of having theiraudiences be alienated because
it's a little too promotional.
The question of do we serve theart?
Speaker 1 (19:07):
or do we serve the community?
Do we serve the art or do weserve the customer?
You know versions of thatquestion.
First off, not mutuallyexclusive.
Season one was a conversationacross disciplines about
marketing and movement,leadership and legacy, but more
than anything it was aboutpeople, artists and
administrators with vision, gritand generosity.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
When you sign up to buy a certain pair of shoes,
they want your email and yourcell phone number to be able to
send marketing to your phones,your email and your cell phone
number to be able to sendmarketing to your phones.
So the way that we can targetwho gets certain emails, who you
can leave off, who you caninclude, it seems like the
fundamentals of advertisingdon't apply to many symphony
orchestras and it's just verypuzzling to me.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
It's interesting.
I was just talking the otherday with Andrew Taylor, who runs
the Arts Administration Programat American University in
Washington, and he was sort ofsaying what advice do you have
for students who are comingthrough these programs now?
And I would say definitely,given the world that we're in
and that we're heading into, thereliance on the old systems and
the old models I think issetting people up for failure,
even with movie premieres of newfilms, when that can happen, it
(20:14):
does bring people out and itgets media coverage and people
are discovering that cinema isnot dead.
Speaker 9 (20:20):
It's definitely like everything else is changing and
our habits are changing, but itstill is a draw.
Having a human experience,sharing an experience on film in
a dark room with strangersstill has an appeal.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
And what I heard again and again were the stories
behind the stories, the unseenlabor, the creative pivots, the
personal truths behind theperforming arts.
Speaker 7 (20:46):
Success is defined locally, and it doesn't matter
how smart you are.
It doesn't matter whatstrategies you think you may
have access to.
It's ultimately about.
Are you doing good for thecommunity?
Speaker 4 (20:56):
The way that I design a sound in a cast is almost
like if I was going to sing itright.
So it's very personal whichcolors, which sounds, which
personalities I feel are goingto transmit what I want to say
in that piece.
And that's my little part thatI add to whatever the conductor,
the performer, the designer,the director does.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
I've given up on reviews.
I've given up on somebody elsedoing any PR for us.
I think we can be the media now.
That's why I have my ownpodcast.
That's why I have in charge ofall of my social channels.
That's why I have help with allof my social channels.
We are the media now.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
These conversations weren't about perfection.
They were about process, andthey showed me that the future
of the arts is being written bythe people who are listening,
adapting and showing up withclarity and courage.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
And that's the formation of the new audience
coming into the opera house.
Maybe those students become newfans, become new donors, become
opera singers themselves.
You know, that's how wecontinue our business forward.
Speaker 7 (21:58):
We do have some fantastic faculty here who are
really quite adept at helpingstudents sometimes get out of
their comfort zone.
Right, If you're used tospending all of your time
playing the clarinet really wellin a practice room or in an
orchestra, you have to practice.
You have to practice gettingout in front of people and being
able to talk to them about yourart form.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
If you've been tuning in, thank you.
Thank you for caring about thisworld and for helping build a
room where new ideas,connections, perspectives can
take shape.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
My advice would be just listen to yourself.
Follow that road, becausethat's the road that is speaking
to you and you need to listento yourself.
Look that road, because that'sthe road that is speaking to you
and you need to listen toyourself.
Speaker 10 (22:38):
Look what Kronos did .
I think one direction that weare very interested in going is
actually younger and to yourpoint building the future
audience goers, building thefuture instrument learners,
building the future musicteachers, but also building
future scientists, buildingfuture engineers, building
future writers.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
While season two is already in motion and I can't
wait to share more about what'snext.
In the meantime, you can shareepisodes, you can like episodes,
you can talk about the podcast,you can donate to the podcast
on thesceneroomcom.
You can help in a variety ofways.
(23:17):
So thank you for your supportand we will see you in season
two.
Thank you.
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