With the start of the Spanish opera season, OLA celebrates a program built on cooperation between both sides of the Atlantic. “Together, today and tomorrow, we will continue crossing seas, oceans, and mountain ranges to keep writing the history of opera,” reflects Carmen Gloria Larenas in her new opinion column.

By Carmen Gloria Larenas, President of Ópera Latinoamérica and General Director of the Teatro Municipal de Santiago – Chile’s National Opera House.

At the most recent annual conference of Ópera Latinoamérica (OLA), held in Lima, Peru, at the end of last June, one of the most significant conclusions was that we needed to strengthen collaborative relationships among the members of our network, which also includes several Spanish opera houses grouped under Ópera XXI, the Association of Opera Houses, Festivals, and Established Opera Seasons in Spain.

With Ignacio García-Belenguer, General Director of Madrid’s Teatro Real, and Isamay Benavente, the head of Madrid’s Teatro de La Zarzuela, serving on our board, the decisions made by our leadership team incorporate the perspectives and opinions of both professionals into every topic and discussion.

As a result, the circulation of opera productions, artists, and even ideas concerning the opera and zarzuela industries is almost a natural consequence of this shared way of thinking—a way of thinking without fear or selfishness. Quite the contrary. This collaborative vision for the development of opera, driven by the ambition to create new synergies, bears fruit season after season.

One recent example is the co-production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, which premiered to great acclaim at the end of last season at the Teatro de La Maestranza in Seville. Directed and designed by stage director and set designer Paco Azorín, the production will travel across two continents and three countries—Spain, Portugal, and Chile—through the end of 2027. This is just one example of how opera is a universal language with the power to connect cultures, people, and audiences.

Amid a reality marked by so much change and uncertainty, the cultural sector demonstrates its commitment through action, dedication, and flexibility. As Spanish opera houses embark on a new season, OLA, representing its 45 members across 12 countries, is delighted to celebrate all those who will make this rich and diverse program possible: institutions, venues, companies, festivals, arts managers, artists, and audiences.

We have learned that musical theater and the operatic arts in general—both opera and zarzuela—cannot be shaped in just one way. On the contrary, their future is closely linked to the ability of all those involved to address the challenges facing this industry, enabling new forms, voices, colors, and lights to emerge.

In both the Americas and Spain, we share an ambitious, collaborative vision for opera. That is why, together, today and tomorrow, we will continue crossing seas, oceans, and mountain ranges to keep writing the history of opera.

May it be a wonderful season!

Explore the latest issue of Ópera Actual magazine.