06.05.2020
A Summer with social distancing under COVID-19's heavy clouds means that Copenhagen Opera Festival 2020 must be cancelled in its usual format and replaced with something completely different. Instead, the festival will present a gift in the shape of 100 Opera Moments to the city of Copenhagen.
Copenhagen Opera Festival takes the official ban very seriously and sees the fight against the virus as the top priority. Therefore, the only option is to cancel the festival of the year, as we know it.
Amy Lane, Festival Director and Artistic Director of Copenhagen Opera Festival comments on the cancellation:
”In 2020, we are heartbroken not to be able to present the Festival that is known, and much loved by audiences and alike. In order that we do not remain "on pause" however, stemming from our core value of Opera for all and from our hearts to yours, we offer 100 moments of song, unity and a nod to a glorious home-coming and re-union in 2021, when we will be back in full bloom”
This final week of August, we will visit all the various districts of Copenhagen with 100 small acoustic performances, where selected institutions, backyards, workplaces and streets will be moved by small intimate moments of live opera.
Half of the performances will be selected to ensure geographic and demographic variety. The audience will be invited to apply for the other half. A jury selection will select spots among the applicants, and we will agree exactly when, and how, we will visit. Like this, we can create dialogue with the audience and reach out with live opera for all ages and social groups in the different districts of Copenhagen.
Amy Lane elaborates on the 100 Opera Moments:
“100 Opera Moments is also a 'postcard' for our entire industry. The crisis is hard for the artists, not only long term, but right now, where project-based earnings are taken from them. We have to join together and create content. As organizers, we must share the few resources we have to keep the wheels turning and to keep the art alive. Art brings us together and gives us a common language for the complexity of life. Art gives us perspective on existence and helps us to find meaning in unfathomable times - albeit just for a moment. "
