The approach was international from the first. It was a condition of the Foundation’s funding that the know-how generated in the project would be shared with the entire sector.
The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation was on board with Opera Beyond from the start. “We want to give space to dialogue, to interaction and to ideas – and I hope it will translate into concrete benefits for operators in this field!”
Paasikivi would be pleased for the Opera Beyond project to be able to offer a forum for such a meeting of professionals. The premiere of Laila has also been cancelled, and the FNOB is investigating whether these events could be rescheduled for later. This conference has now unfortunately been cancelled due to COVID-19. It includes experimental productions, innovative concrete production tools and collaboration development.Ī conference was planned for May 2020 to bring together performing arts people to discuss new technology. The contemplating of new technology evolved into a broad-based project, described at the FNOB as an ‘ecosystem’. I took him up on this word, because it was a good idea for a development project for us,” says Lilli Paasikivi. “When we started talking about cooperation with Esa-Pekka, he expressed his interest in new technologies. In 2016, Esa-Pekka Salonen became Artist in Association of the FNOB. Opera Beyond is the result of a snowball effect. Nearly 200 applications from 32 countries were received. Salonen is providing the music, Vesala is creating the dramaturgy, and the work is being executed by the Ekho Collective, which won the ideas competition for an interactive and immersive artwork held by the FNOB. Once performances are reinstated, the potential of artificial intelligence and virtual reality will be tested in an immersive installation named Laila, a collaborative effort by Esa-Pekka Salonen, singer-songwriter and actress Paula Vesala and the Ekho Collective. The company of course always keeps a sharp lookout for new trends in performance technologies, but this project entails a deliberate step away from the comfort zone of opera to seek new and concrete approaches. After this suspension, when it is safe to seek out collective artistic events once again, the reunion of audiences and performers will be joyous.” “The lack of real social interaction will increase the need for art experiences. Communality and encounters with art have found new forms in this time of isolation,” Paasikivi adds. In this context, the aims of the Opera Beyond project are very timely. “Now that people have secluded themselves because of the pandemic, experiencing art in digital form has become hugely more important. There are a lot of unknowns here, and it’s exciting that we can’t know at the outset what we’re going to find!” “We need to be open to the opportunities that this project will bring up. We’ve never done anything like this,” says Lilli Paasikivi, Artistic Director of the Finnish National Opera.
The potential of technology can act as a catalyst and challenge conventional thinking right down to the core of the artform, from the conception of what an artwork is to the relationship with the audience and to the creative process. The purpose of this project is to explore the artistic applications of cutting-edge technology across multiple platforms and thus introduce new means for producing meaningful experiences at various levels of an opera production. The Finnish National Opera and Ballet(FNOB) has taken this issue to task by launching a comprehensive project of exploration called Opera Beyond. Innovative departures are all very well, but it is a challenge to get them to drill down to the foundations and to ensure that they attain lasting value instead of just scratching the surface. Ancient art forms rest on a foundation of tradition, and as such they can easily become trapped by their history.
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