Why support Opéra de Baugé?

We help young musicians and technicians develop their skills and their careers in the following ways:

Conservatoire voice students

provide a taste of opera - after 4 years at conservatoire a singer must decide whether to invest in a further 2 years at opera school yet the conservatoire may have given him/her very little experience of opera.

teach stagecraft - music colleges do not do this. This may be why students who have worked with us tend to do extremely well when it comes to allocating roles for opera scenes and final year operas at their colleges.

help move beyond the chorus - for singers languishing in choruses it is very difficult to make the leap into small solo roles. Many houses will not trust a young singer with a role until he has sung a role elsewhere.

We produce photographic, video and audio material which is available to our young professionals to use in their websites.

provide references - we believe in the young people we take on and are able to identify their strengths in testimonials and references and, where we hear of suitable work, we are happy to recommend them directly to agents and houses.

Established singers

try out a new role in safety or get a role onto their CV

As our reputation grows so does the value for a performer of having worked with OdB.

You will find when you go to bigger houses that you frequently see Opéra de Baugé mentioned in the singers’ CV’s

Orchestral players and pianists

Many come to Bauge uncertain of which line of career to pursue, get the opera ‘bug’ and became determined to find a post in an opera orchestra or as a repetiteur in an opera company.

Technical staff

Our valued ‘techies’ also seem to do very well for themselves after working backstage at Opéra de Baugé. They learn, they grow in confidence and they go on to greater things. This is a two-edged sword as it means we have to keep recruiting new talent. If we are doing our job as we want to do it people will be constantly leaving us for new horizons.

For Everyone

At OdB young professionals form networks which are tremendously valuable early in their career. They exchange details of auditions and work opportunities and often advise and coach each other with a generosity that astounds and gratifies us.

OdB has become the ‘musicians’ opera house’ – a place where young singers and players love to come, where they meet up every year with congenial colleagues they respect and do work they are proud of and where the management have as their overriding priority the nurture and promotion of young talent.

Become a friend of Opéra de Baugé

You can help us further develop our support for the development of young musicians and technicians by making a modest financial contribution to what we do.

At the same time, as a friend of Opéra de Baugé you will receive certain privileges, including a regular newsletter with behind the scenes stories and interviews.

To learn more, contact Dr John Gil Rodriguez by email.

Charity

The charity works closely with the opera festival, which is a showcase for young talent, almost all of it identified in the UK.  Our main aim is to be a bridge for young opera singers between finishing conservatoire and establishing a career; here they can make their debuts in new roles, thus developing their repertoire and stagecraft and being helped to break into the world of the major international opera houses.   We also aim to support young orchestral players in developing their operatic repertoire and technical staff in learning their trades.  Several singers have done outstandingly well after working with us.

The festival itself is managed entirely by volunteers and is a not-for-profit operation.  The musicians who come to Baugé work in secluded and beautiful country surroundings and are accommodated free of charge by local families.  They benefit greatly from working intensely together and developing friendships which will help them succeed in their subsequent careers.

You can give to the charity via The Big Give website.

Young Professionals Scholarship

The aim of the scholarship is to support up to five singers in making their debut in a major solo role. The scholarship(s) can be named after the donor.

It is very difficult for a young professional singer to break into the mainstream opera repertoire because most houses will not offer a role to someone, however promising, who has not already performed it. We search out very talented singers who need us as a springboard into their career as soloists.

A donation of £1,000 will provide 50% of the cost to Opera de Bauge of launching a young singer in a major solo role and enabling them to perform the role three or four times in public with a full orchestra in front of a discriminating public.

The singer could advertise in their CV that they have won a named scholarship. We have already helped several such singers launch their careers and can provide details to potential donors on request.

You can donate towards a scholarship on The Big Give website

We have already helped several young singers make their professional debut in an important role and can provide details to potential donors on request.