Between August 13 and 16, with the assistance of 60 participants from 24 institutions of 12 countries, Ópera Latinoamérica’s annual general meeting was held. The event took place within the 10th years celebrations of the reopening of Auditorio Nacional del SODRE Dr. Adela Reta and 15 years of reopening of Teatro Solís. Thanks to the kind support of the Ministry of Culture of Uruguay and the Municipality of Montevideo.  

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International Touring Circuit (ITC) of Latin American productions, digital tools for the promotion of productions and artists and the proposal for an international campaign: World Opera Day, were some of the central themes discussed during the two days of work. 

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The event included, in addition to the annual assembly of members, the second Technical Forum and the second meeting of the Communication and Marketing Committee. Both committees are formed by the technical and communications directors of the theatres of the network.

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The Minister of Culture of Uruguay María Julia Muñoz and Mariana Percovich, Director of Culture of the Municipality of Montevideo together with OLA authorities opened the event whose theme focused on the importance of strengthening circulation and co-production between theatres. 

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In the Technical Forum, the topics discussed were developed through workshops and tables of discussions that allowed to share experiences of good practices and the difficulties that member theatres face when moving productions from one country to another. As a result of the work of these work tables, the initiative to create an International Touring Circuit (ITC) emerged. As an example, an axis will run through the state of Amazonas of Brazil and the another axis will be Mexico, Colombia and Peru. 

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During the conference, the second Communication and Marketing meeting was held, with the participation of Pablo Buela, General Director, PIMOD advertising agency and his presentation on the latest trends in Digital Marketing and communication innovation. The Communication Committee, created in Quito last year and made up of communication managers of the OLA member theatres, is working on joint projects around the study of theatre audiences using machine learning and conducting a study of potential audiences. In collaboration with Opera Europa and Opera América, they are also working on an international campaign for World Opera Day, an initiative promoted by the three associations. World opera day will be celebrated every year on October 25. 

The main agreements are:

• Work on the strengthening and efficiency of the circulation of productions through the implementation of ITC.
• Promote the exchange for profesional training and carry out technical internships in theatres part of the network and through collaboration agreements already signed with other organisations.
• Advances on Escena Digital were presented, in particular the Artists section, which will allow, among other uses, to promote the work of singers who have participated in at least three seasons of the OLA Network theatres.
• The next  OLA Annual General Meeting (AGM) in 2020 will be held at Teatro del Lago de Frutillar, Chile. Between November 12 and 15.
• The venue for OLA’s AGM 2021 will be Festival Amazonas de Ópera in Manaus, Brazil (dates TBC).
• The venue for 2022 OLA  meeting will be Gran Teatro Nacional of Lima, Peru, (dates TBC).
• As an extraordinary resolution, the initiative to hold an annual face-to-face Board of Directors meeting was approved. The first one will be held at Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires in May 2020 and at Teatro Municipal Enrique of Cali in 2021 (dates TBC).

Finally, as part of the celebration of the XII OLA Meeting, the premiere of Mozart’s Magic Flute took place, together with the Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra with the musical direction of Ligia Amadio and the scenic direction of the Italian Zamira Pasceri, at Teatro Solís. In addition to the presentation of Deborah Colker’s company at Auditorio Nacional del Sodre with its show Cao sem Feathers.

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List of Participants

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Argentina

• Juventus Lyrica, Buenos Aires 
• Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires
• Teatro del Bicentenario of San Juan

Brazil

• Festival Amazonas de Ópera, Manaus 
• Theatro Municipal de São Paulo
• Theatro da Paz de Belem 

Chile

• Teatro del Lago of Frutillar
•  Municipal de Santiago
•  CEAC – Universidad de Chile, Santiago
•  Fundación Ibañez Atkinson

Colombia

• Teatro Colón of Bogotá
• Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Bogotá
• Teatro Municipal Enrique Buenaventura of Cali 

Costa Rica

• Compañía Lírica Nacional de Costa Rica, San José

Ecuador

• Teatro Sánchez Aguilar, Guayaquil

Spain

• Auditorio de Tenerife, Tenerife 
• Teatro Real, Madrid

Mexico

•  Ópera de Bellas Artes, Ciudad de México
•  Teatro Macedonio Alcalá of Oaxaca

Peru

• Gran Teatro Nacional de Lima

Uruguay

•  Auditorio Nacional del SODRE Dra. Adela Reta, Montevideo
• Teatro Solís, Montevideo
•  Centro Cultural Teatro Español of Durazno
•  Teatro Florencio Sánchez of Paysandú

Guest Speakers
Germany

•  Peter Spuhler, General and Artist Director Staatstheater of Karlsruhe

Argentina

•  Marcelo Lombardero, Scenic Director
•  David Chaik, Production and Project Coordinator, UNTREF
•  Eva Bongiovanni, Communication and Logistics, UNTREF

United States

•  Andrea Puente-Catán, Major Gift Officer Spanish Affairs, San Diego Opera

Italy

• Zamira Pasceri, Stage Director and Choreographer

Uruguay

• Pablo Buela, Director General, PIMOD Advertising Agency
• Hugo Millán,and Choreographer

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Links of interest

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Conferences videos
Photo gallery
OLA Montevideo 2019 release

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For more information contact Genaro Villalobos Flores: gvillalobos@operala.org