So you want to Hashtag an opera?
#OperaCo is an opera “collective” run by singers for singers. #OperaCo exists to help singers gain experience in new and interesting ways, and to share the love of opera and classical music. We don’t have a “season” per say. Rather, operas are chosen by a singer (or singers) looking to build experience in specific rep, and they are put on under the Hashtag banner. Anyone can Hashtag an opera so long as they have the motivation and organisational wherewithal to organise it themselves (with a little bit of help from the Hashtag fairies!). All performances are profit-share.
Planning an opera should be a fun experience, but first we have to explain the boring "admin" stuff. Read on to find out how you can organise your own opera under the #OperaCo brand.
How it works
Find an opera you would love to have in your rep. Email us to let us know you'd like to plan said opera and what city you'd like to perform it in. We'll send you an information pack with a list of potential venues you can contact. Find yourself a venue and a date, then return the filled in information form and we'll get the opera on the website and put out the call on Facebook and Twitter for any available roles in your opera.
As a collective company, #OperaCo doesn't have the means to hold general auditions. Casting for operas is generally done via social media on a first-come-first-served basis, unless the work requires a specific type of voice which makes it necessary to "audition" singers (ie the big dramatic rep or very niche early music rep). Any "auditioning" is done by a screening process, where singers send in audio clips and CVs, which we will then pass to the organisers for consideration. If you are an organiser submitting and opera to be produced under the #OperaCo and want a specific singer to participate, please tell us this when you send us your initial proposal so we can approach them on Facebook or Twitter before putting out the casting announcement.
Once the cast has been built, we'll collaborate the information from everyone in the cast into one tidy spreadsheet, and send it to you so you can plan rehearsals and discuss any show specifics.
Accompaniment
We suggest doing piano-reductions for the performances. It is possible to arrange the #OperaCo orchestra for a performance, but this is far more time consuming and will result in an additional organiser fee. We can recommend pianists in all the major cities. A call for pianists can also be put out at the same time as the casting announcement, should none of the suggested pianists be available.
Marketing
Hashtag will help you market your production via our social media networks, and submit the production to opera magazines for listings in their "what's on" section. We will also place the show on our website, will get it listed on Bachtrack, and can help design publicity materials. You will be responsible for printing your own flyers, and the cost involved, regardless of whether we designed them or not. We can suggest cheap on-line printing resources. Should you desire, we also have a list of media and reviewers who can be emailed about the production. Again, the actual emailing of people will be up to you, although we can do it for you for an additional charge (response not guaranteed!)
The financial bits
The company receives no funding, and is funded entirely on a profit share basis through ticket sales alone. The ticket sales from your event will go to cover the cost of hiring the venue. Any remaining money should be split evenly amongst all the artists (singers and players).
This means whomever plans an opera is financially responsible should the opera make a loss, as #OperaCo is a collective, not a company with financial backing. You will be asked to sign a contract prior to the show being put on-line stating your understanding of this.
We are registered with various on-line ticket sales sites, and are happy to list your performance on these sites and send you a door list on the day of advance sales. We strongly recommend you do this, but also offer on-the-door sales as the majority of your audience will buy on the day.
Before the event
We'll send you a handy check-list of things that you can do to help your event run more smoothly a few weeks before the event. This includes things like preparing programmes and whether you'll be serving interval drinks or not. This handy check-list is for reference only and you are by no means obligated to perform any of the tasks on the list. It is purely there to help make the experience more enjoyable for singers and audience alike.
Fees
We ask for a small £15 administration fee in order to process all new operas. This includes all the information listed above, as well as listing on our website and help with casting.
Additional fees (as mentioned above):
Flyer Design is an additional fee of £5.
Programme Design is an additional fee of £10.
Orchestral fixing is an additional fee of £30.
Emailing of agents/reviewers is an additional fee of £1 per email.
Fees are payable via paypal or cheque and are non-refundable should you decide to cancel your opera once contracts are signed.
We welcome operas of all genres, from singers across the UK. If you’d like to plan your own opera using the #OperaCo tag, please drop us an email with your ideas to get started!
Planning an opera should be a fun experience, but first we have to explain the boring "admin" stuff. Read on to find out how you can organise your own opera under the #OperaCo brand.
How it works
Find an opera you would love to have in your rep. Email us to let us know you'd like to plan said opera and what city you'd like to perform it in. We'll send you an information pack with a list of potential venues you can contact. Find yourself a venue and a date, then return the filled in information form and we'll get the opera on the website and put out the call on Facebook and Twitter for any available roles in your opera.
As a collective company, #OperaCo doesn't have the means to hold general auditions. Casting for operas is generally done via social media on a first-come-first-served basis, unless the work requires a specific type of voice which makes it necessary to "audition" singers (ie the big dramatic rep or very niche early music rep). Any "auditioning" is done by a screening process, where singers send in audio clips and CVs, which we will then pass to the organisers for consideration. If you are an organiser submitting and opera to be produced under the #OperaCo and want a specific singer to participate, please tell us this when you send us your initial proposal so we can approach them on Facebook or Twitter before putting out the casting announcement.
Once the cast has been built, we'll collaborate the information from everyone in the cast into one tidy spreadsheet, and send it to you so you can plan rehearsals and discuss any show specifics.
Accompaniment
We suggest doing piano-reductions for the performances. It is possible to arrange the #OperaCo orchestra for a performance, but this is far more time consuming and will result in an additional organiser fee. We can recommend pianists in all the major cities. A call for pianists can also be put out at the same time as the casting announcement, should none of the suggested pianists be available.
Marketing
Hashtag will help you market your production via our social media networks, and submit the production to opera magazines for listings in their "what's on" section. We will also place the show on our website, will get it listed on Bachtrack, and can help design publicity materials. You will be responsible for printing your own flyers, and the cost involved, regardless of whether we designed them or not. We can suggest cheap on-line printing resources. Should you desire, we also have a list of media and reviewers who can be emailed about the production. Again, the actual emailing of people will be up to you, although we can do it for you for an additional charge (response not guaranteed!)
The financial bits
The company receives no funding, and is funded entirely on a profit share basis through ticket sales alone. The ticket sales from your event will go to cover the cost of hiring the venue. Any remaining money should be split evenly amongst all the artists (singers and players).
This means whomever plans an opera is financially responsible should the opera make a loss, as #OperaCo is a collective, not a company with financial backing. You will be asked to sign a contract prior to the show being put on-line stating your understanding of this.
We are registered with various on-line ticket sales sites, and are happy to list your performance on these sites and send you a door list on the day of advance sales. We strongly recommend you do this, but also offer on-the-door sales as the majority of your audience will buy on the day.
Before the event
We'll send you a handy check-list of things that you can do to help your event run more smoothly a few weeks before the event. This includes things like preparing programmes and whether you'll be serving interval drinks or not. This handy check-list is for reference only and you are by no means obligated to perform any of the tasks on the list. It is purely there to help make the experience more enjoyable for singers and audience alike.
Fees
We ask for a small £15 administration fee in order to process all new operas. This includes all the information listed above, as well as listing on our website and help with casting.
Additional fees (as mentioned above):
Flyer Design is an additional fee of £5.
Programme Design is an additional fee of £10.
Orchestral fixing is an additional fee of £30.
Emailing of agents/reviewers is an additional fee of £1 per email.
Fees are payable via paypal or cheque and are non-refundable should you decide to cancel your opera once contracts are signed.
We welcome operas of all genres, from singers across the UK. If you’d like to plan your own opera using the #OperaCo tag, please drop us an email with your ideas to get started!