Following a successful pilot programme in winter 2016-2017, the French director, Magali Thomas, and the Italian composer and conductor, Sergio Monterisi, officially formed El Sistema France - Opéra Méditerranée in November 2017. Initially comprised of just 20 pupils in its trial incarnation, the programme has since become a long-term fixture, providing singing, theatrical and acting tuition to some 150 pupils in Nice, Draguignan and Cannes.

Rejuvenating communities and the arts

Offering high-quality artistic opportunities where for many they otherwise wouldn't exist, Opéra Méditerranée is the first Sistema programme to focus exclusively on opera. In its three núcleos, it works with a broad spectrum of children from disadvantaged backgrounds in the République and La Frayère neighbourhoods of Cannes, the St. Roch quarter of Nice and the city of Draguignan. Here, away from the glamour often associated with the Côte d’Azur, Sergio and Magali have created an unlikely amalgam, bringing together underprivileged young children from the banlieues and the traditional culture of the region’s opera establishments.

Photos from the rehearsals & performance of Peter Pan in February 2019

All of the photos on this page are courtesy of Marie-Noëlle Archimbault & Patrick Michau

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Both opera and some of the communities that the programme’s children come from have a certain outsider status and suffer from the critical perceptions of sections of society and this unlikely pairing provides them with the perfect opportunity to confound expectations. The children bring youth, energy and new ideas to what some perceive as an out-of-touch, old-fashioned art form, while they and their communities benefit from the new experiences, skills, aspirations and subconscious reappraisals which result from the partnership.

Sistema on tour

As the programme develops, the children are not only learning how to sing and taking their first steps in a new world, they are also gaining confidence from their public performances and new perspectives from their travels and exchanges within the region, with plans afoot to tour the area in early summer 2019.

Performances in summer 2018 have already seen the children take to the stage in Cannes’ Miramar Theatre and play at the Festival of St. Vallier de Thiey, high up in the alpine foothills of the cannois hinterlands. Both of these occasions also highlighted one of the hallmarks of major Opéra Méditerranée projects, namely their creative power. In St. Vallier, this manifested itself in the unusual ambulatory performance of Carmen with François-René Duchâble and his pianocypede, while the Selfish Giant performed in Cannes was very much après-Wilde, with the adapted piece written and conducted by Sergio Monterisi and directed by Magali Thomas.

Watch the Cannes núcleo perform The Selfish Giant

21st century, digital opera

This strain of creativity and innovation also shone through in Opéra Méditerranée's most recent major piece, the reprisal of Sergio Monterisi's refreshing, digital operatic take on Peter Pan in Nice’s opera house in February 2019. Translated into French & directed by Magali Thomas, this performance of J.M. Barrie's children's classic was full of energy and invention both off and on stage, with creative and lively staging and the excellent, 15-22 year-old players of the Orquestra Geraçao youth orchestra instrumentally accompanying their young French counterparts in the pit.

One particularly eye-catching innovation showcased in this performance was the setting of the scene with digital animations by Machina Films. With eight graphic backgrounds and three animated scenes produced in full 3D and specially timed to match the music, the six to 14-year-old Opéra Méditerrané performers were soon immersed in an accoustic & visual environment accentuated by lively backdrops of tropical islands, pirate ships sailing the high seas, children's rooms with fluttering curtains and rocking horses and, of course, the menacing eye of the classic Peter Pan crocodile.

Besides its youth empowerment and invention, Nice's Peter Pan also symbolised the solidarity at the heart of the Sistema movement. For the perfomance not only enthused its audience in Nice, but warmed hearts throughout the Sistema community, with Orquestra Geraçao providing yet another example of the spirit of mutual assistance and support fostered by Sistema programmes across the world. Stepping in to replace Opéra Méditerranée's lost orchestra at the 11th hour, the young Orquestra Geraçao musicians both rescued the performance and put in an exemplary display of professionalism. Signing up to the performance shortly before Christmas and only able to arrive in France just three days before the evening of the production, the team made up for their lack of time with the utmost energy and enthusiasm, helping their hosts put on a performance which, as you can see below, more than lived up to its illustrious surroundings.

Opéra Méditerranée perform Peter Pan with accompaniment from Orquestra Geraçao

Looking ahead

Africa is a musical performance piece for voices and percussion instruments which celebrates the work of Négritude poets, such as Léopold Sédar Senghor, Aimé Césaire, David Diop and Léon-Gontran Damas.

And, after the Opéra de Nice, the Opéra Méditerranée story continues. In just a month's time, a new production of Peter Pan will take to the stage, with the children playing at the Théâtre de l'Esplanade de Draguignan with the Symphony Orchestra of the Toulon Opera on the 11th May. Yet, this is just the first step in a season which will also see them premiere Africa (a paean to the work of the Négritude poets), write a new opera about the myth of Orpheus (Le violon d'Orphée) and reprise Peter Pan in opera houses throughout the region.

The team at Opéra Méditerranée also hope that their fantastic collaboration with Orquestra Geraçao may soon be repeated with both Orquestra Geraçao and other Sistema orchestras, making Peter Pan a truly inclusive, international project which brings Sistema programmes together and acts as a catalyst for other Sistema Europe activities and goals.

We at SistemaEurope.org are excited to see how all of these activities develop and will stay in touch with the team and look to revisit the Riviera later this year to see how they are getting on. If you want to keep up-to-date on Opéra Méditerranée developments or to find out more about the programme in the meantime, then we encourage you to follow them on their Facebook page or to read their member's description on SistemaEurope.org, where you can find detailed descriptions of their different núcleos:

https://www.sistemaeurope.org/El_Sistema_France-Opera_Mediterranee/Self-description on SEu.org
https://www.facebook.com/El-Sistema-Opéra-Méditerranée/Opéra Méditerranée on FB