In 2008 State Opera will present a unique program at the Opera Studio to be known as The Baroque Project. The program involves a visiting residency by well known Australian stage director, Lindy Hume, to work with local artists on reinterpreting a masterpiece from the Baroque period, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. Composed 400 years ago, L’Orfeo is considered by many musicologists to be the world’s first true opera.

The residency, which will last 10 weeks, will involve emerging and established South Australian artists, local theatre practitioners and the broader community.

Lindy Hume is one of Australia’s most versatile and innovative stage directors. She is highly regarded in Australia and overseas for the freshness of her interpretations across a wide variety of repertoire, and in particular the operas and oratorios from the Baroque period. The SOSA studio residency forms part of an Australia Council Fellowship recently awarded to Lindy to develop her creative work in this area.
 
At a time when there is much public discussion about the future of the art form, this project allows a highly respected director to work in an area of the repertoire which has been wrongly neglected. The current global resurgence of Baroque works to the repertory has seen many fresh and illuminating new interpretations overseas.

Our own project offers a truly unique opportunity for Lindy to add her own distinctly Australian voice to this genre, and for younger generation South Australian artists and musicians working on the project to test new ideas and explore performance directions in Baroque repertoire. Having the advantage of working with a director with a proven track record of innovative cutting edge productions, many of these artists will gain valuable professional development training opportunities.

Lindy Hume’s artistic collaborators on this project will be well known conductor, broadcaster and early music specialist Graham Abbott, conductor Timothy sexton and acclaimed award winning lighting designer, Nigel Levings.

State Opera subscribers will be invited to attend workshops and master classes during the period of Lindy Hume’s residency in 2008. Details to be advised in due course.