The Israeli Opera Community Productions

Throughout the years, one of the major roles of art has been to bridge societal gaps and enable people to feel a sense of excitement as they participate in an artistic event as performers or spectators. For over two decades, the Israeli Opera has initiated over 20 community opera productions with a major aim to present the magical world of opera to audiences and communities that were not familiar with the art form and would not have been able to fathom it otherwise.

By coming into a specific community in the periphery, the Israeli Opera enables hundreds of participants in each individual community to participate in a community production on or off the stage. Singers and instrumental musicians of classical and popular music, choirs, theatre ensembles, dancers of varied styles, are all welcome to participate in each community production. They come from all sectors of the society, they are of ages ranging from eight to 88 and they do not need to have any prior knowledge of opera. The Israeli Opera artistic team of the project travels to each specific community way in advance of the actual project in order to expose the project to the potential artistic forces in the community.

After a lengthy process of artistic collaboration, between 150 and 250 local participants of all ages are chosen to take part in the project. And this is exactly when the real fun begins. For several months, these local performers work on a regular basis with a director, a conductor and soloists of the Israeli Opera to become the real stars of the eventual production. The rehearsals are a very special experience and lead to a production in a magnitude these people were never aware of in the past. And once the performances take place in the community and friends and relatives fill the house to see an opera production, in Hebrew of course, with their own local stars on stage, the excitement in the community is hard to explain in mere words.

But these productions and artistic experiences are not a one-time thing. They have an ongoing artistic, societal and educational value. The added value of these community productions is the educational program held throughout an entire year at local schools and community centers of each respective community, thus enabling a large amount of people to get acquainted with the magic of opera and enjoy the performances through getting a much broader view of the art form. And after the performances the Israeli Opera maintains contact with the relevant people in each community in order to make sure that the performers and audience members alike remain in touch with the Israeli Opera and its work.

Opera can be considered an alienating art form. But through over 20 community productions throughout Israel of the operas Carmen, The Barber of Seville, The Elixir of Love, Cinderella and The Magic Flute, thousands of people of all ages have enjoyed opera as a hands on experience and were fascinated by its scope, grandeur and most of all fun. They all realized that opera is something everyone can relate to and that they were privileged to be part of an artistic adventure of a lifetime that enabled them to be the real stars of a project in their own community. 

Community productions of the Israeli opera:

2023: The magic flute – Nof HaGalil

2022: The magic flute – Upper Galilee, Karmiel

2019/20: The magic flute – Megido, Lod

2018/19: The magic flute – Ramla

2017/18: The magic flute – Mateh Asher Regional council

2016/17: The magic flute – Arad, Eilat

2015/16: The magic flute – Migdal HaEmek, Ma'a lot – Tarshiha

2014/15: The magic flute – Kiryat Yam, Ofakim, Dimona

2012/2013: The magic flute – Kiryat Malakhi, Ma'ale Adumim, Nazareth Illit

2011/12: Cinderella – Nahariya, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Ata

2010/11: Cinderella – Tirat Carmel, Netivot. The Israel opera collaboration with the residents of Tirat Carmel and Netivot

2009/10: L'elisir d'amore – Beit She'an, Acre

2008/9: L'elisir d'amore – Tiberias

2007/8: L'elisir d'amore – Afula

2006/7: L'elisir d'amore – Neve Eli'ezer Qtr – Tel Aviv, "100% art" festival at the port of Tel Aviv

2005/6: L'elisir d'amore – Netanya, Ramla

2004: L'elisir d'amore – Ashkelon, Gilo Qtr – Jerusalem

2001: The barber of Tikva – Tikva Qtr. Tel Aviv

2000: Carmen – Neve Eli'ezer Qtr. Tel Aviv

Support Community Opera.
For donations and further information please contact

michal@israelopera.org.il