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Details: English Touring Opera to Perform 5th Interactive Opera for Young People with Special Educational Needs in Luxembourg
The English Touring Opera (ETO) is returning next week to the Luxembourg Philharmonie with Waxwings, a new opera for children with severe special educational needs. This is ETO's fifth visit in as many years to the Philharmonie, and once again the opera's words have been translated into Luxembourgish especially for this performance.
Directed by Tim Yealland. Music by Clive and Mark Ives, Waxwings is being performed on Wednesday 10 June and Thursday 11 June 2015 at 09:30, 11:15, 14:00, 16:00, and on Friday 12 June at 09:30, 11:15, 14:00.
Loosely based on the myth of Icarus, Waxwings is designed to stimulate and engage young people with many different and complex needs. Performed by three of ETO’s singers and one player, the opera is highly interactive, with a wide range of multi-sensory elements.
Lasting around 50 minutes, the opera’s music is by Clive and Mark Ives of experimental electronic music band Woo Music. There are 11 performances at the Philharmonie, and in each one the live playing and singing is interlinked with a recorded electronic soundtrack.
The story is about Olly, an autistic boy who is obsessed with birds. When Olly finds a waxwing on his way to school and takes it with him, his new teacher confronts him and calls for the Headteacher, who turns out to be part human, part Minotaur, with an appetite for small birds. To escape, Olly must make his own set of wings.
Words and direction for the opera are by ETO’s Head of Education Tim Yealland, and the set and prop design is by Ruth Paton. The cast includes singers Guy Elliott, Abigail Kelly and Susan Moore, and cellist Jonathan Kitchen. Animator Babis Alexiadis has created a new animated film featuring dancer Ricardo Campos for the climax of the show.
The opera has already been performed in schools, colleges and education centres around the UK earlier this year as part of ETO’s Spring 2015 tour. Its performance at the Philharmonie marks ETO’s fifth such visit to Luxembourg in as many years, and comes after a successful performances in 2014 of Rumbled, an interactive opera based on the Rumplestiltskin fairy tale.
As with ETO’s previous performances at the Philharmonie, the words for Waxwings have been translated into Luxembourgish to maintain the opera’s interactivity with its audiences. ETO’s visit is once again being made possible through the support of the Fondation EME (Écouter pour Mieux s’Entendre).
Tim Yealland, ETO’s Head of Education, said: ‘Waxwings is a new departure for ETO. The music is a seductive mix of popular and classical styles, and the story, which begins in a boy's bedroom, takes us eventually to the famous flight of Icarus, via a scary encounter with a Minotaur’.
He added: ‘Many different elements go into the storytelling, including a riveting soundtrack, sensory and interactive design, film and dance, and immersive performing by the highly talented young cast. It is a great pleasure to be bringing Waxwings to audiences in Luxembourg this June.’
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg-Kirchberg
Organiser: Philharmonie / English Touring Opera (ETO)
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Reservations: www.philharmonie.lu
URL: www.philharmonie.lu
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