The Cooperative

18/09/2026

✨ MEET THE CAST ✨

We are delighted to introduce the brilliant artists bringing our upcoming double bill to the stage …

Il prigioniero

An opera in one act and a prologue by
Luigi Dallapiccola

Il prigioniero - Tristan Entwistle
La madre - Katrina Waters
Il carceriere / il grande Inquisitore - Sam Elmi
Primo sacerdote - Matt Gaskin
Secondo sacerdote - Dale Schilling
Chorus - Matt Gaskin
Avalon Gatenby
Elizabeth Harper
Andrew Pennycuick
Dale Schilling

Der Kaiser von Atlantis oder die Tod-Verweigerung

‚Spiel‘ in one act by
Viktor Ullmann and Petr Kien

Kaiser Overall - Michael Lampard
Der Tod - Bernard Leong-Lokman
Harlekin / Ein Soldat - Sam Elmi
Der Trommler - Angelique Tot
Bubikopf - Elizabeth Harper
Der Lautsprecher - Dale Schilling
The Child - Atticus Olds
Ensemble - Matt Gaskin
Avalon Gatenby
Andrew Pennycuick

The Cooperative Actors Ensemble
The Cooperative Chamber Orchestra

Conductor - Toby Wong
Director - Michael Honeyman (Il prigioniero)
Menila Moineaux (Der Kaiser von Atlantis)
Production Design - Amelie Brown
Assistant Conductor - Ashleigh Lane
Assistant Director - Emma Mense

30 October | 7:30PM
1 November | as part of „Freedom? A festival of independent opera“

Glebe Town Hall, 160 St Johns Road, Glebe

https://www.thecooperativeopera.org/ -production

Bookings open soon - watch this space! ✨

31/08/2026

✨ Calling all independent companies, artists, and makers of music theatre! ✨

On November 1, The Cooperative is delighted to present “Freedom? A festival of independent opera”. Joined by an outstanding line-up of independent music theatre makers from across our community, we’re delighted to present a day filled with performances spanning many genres and centuries, celebrating our vibrant arts scene.

Would you like to be part of it? We’re extending a callout to all independent artists, companies, groups, and inviting submissions for a program of ~30-60 minutes. Whether opera, art song, oratorio, musical theatre, cabaret, we’d love to hear what you’ve been working on!

Head to our website below for more information, or email us: [email protected] to get involved.

And if you’d like to get involved onstage with The Cooperative, we currently have a couple of opportunities open for singers and pianists - head to our website or send us an email any time.

We look forward to hearing from you ✨

https://www.thecooperativeopera.org/ #19

29/08/2026

✨ This is ...

NABUCCO

An opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi & Temistocle Solera

"Goosebump-inducing" (Limelight)

"If you believe that art can change the world, you'd do well to start here" (ClassikON)

Milano, 1842. Not yet afforded nationhood and under the oppression and occupation of a larger, powerful regime, the first audiences of Nabucco found a contemporary political and social resonance which has accompanied the opera ever since. Radical and stark in its depiction of oppression, occupation, and an endless, omnipresent search for meaning and identity, Nabucco speaks to our world today, as strongly as to the world of its premiere.

Heralded by Limelight as "opera of and for the people", our 2025 Nabucco returns to the stage in 2026 - and we need your help to make it happen!

An unexpected plot twist has left us in search of support to bring this "hair-raising" production to a new audience in 2026.
Would you like to help us do so? Head to our fundraiser at the Australian Cultural Fund (link below) or contact us at [email protected] ✨
https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2EMn00000R7BK9/support-the-cooperative-2026

We are immensely grateful and appreciative of any and all support. Independent opera thrives on, with, and for its community, and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have such a wonderful one around us.

📽: Orange Kao ✨

27/08/2026

✨JOIN THE COOPERATIVE✨

Are you a pianist?
Are you a mezzo, alto, or countertenor?
Are you a tenor?

If you answered yes to one or more of the questions above, we’d love to hear from you!*

The Cooperative is looking for pianists as well as a mezzo / alto / countertenor and a tenor for our upcoming double bill of Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Il prigioniero.

For more information, please visit our website, or email us any time - [email protected]

https://www.thecooperativeopera.org/ #19

We look forward to hearing from you! ✨

* We’d love to hear from you even if you did not answer yes to any of the questions above - watch this space for our next general audition callout!

22/08/2026

✨ We need your help!

Did you catch Nabucco in 2025?

➡️ No, but you wish you had?

➡️ Yes, and you’d like to see it again?

Then you’re in luck - Nabucco returns to the stage in 2026. We just need a little help to get there:

In an unexpected twist, we’ve found ourselves urgently in need of some fundraising support to bring Nabucco to Melbourne in 2026 - and that’s where you come in.

We believe passionately in creating immediate, impactful, accessible opera for all. If you’ve seen our work and believe as deeply as we do in bringing it to a wider audience, please visit the link below or get in touch with us. We are immensely grateful for any and all donations, which will help us bring this “opera of and for the people“ (Limelight) back to the stage.

https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2EMn00000R7BK9MAN/support-the-cooperative-2026

And of course, we are always delighted to receive non-financial donations too! Whether in-kind resources (we’re always thrilled to hear about rehearsal space, billeting for artists, set, costume, props, lighting equipment, transport …) or time and skill - on- or offstage, there are many ways to get involved and many roles to play.

If you’d like to discuss a donation, have any questions, or just want to get in touch, email us any time - [email protected]

We look forward to hearing from you ✨

🎥: Orange Kao ✨

17/08/2026

✨ Coming soon ...

Der Kaiser von Atlantis oder die Tod-Verweigerung

‚Spiel‘ in one act by
Viktor Ullmann and Petr Kien

Il prigioniero

An opera in one act and a prologue by
Luigi Dallapiccola

30 October | 7:30PM
1 November | as part of „Freedom? A festival of independent opera“

Glebe Town Hall, 160 St Johns Road, Glebe

https://www.thecooperativeopera.org/ -production

Bookings open soon - watch this space! ✨

31/07/2026

✨ Support The Cooperative ✨

Do you like art as political resistance? Seeing brilliant emerging artists shine onstage? Community united by opera making?

You might like our 2026 season - and perhaps you’d like to help us bring it to life?

We are extremely grateful for the generous support that allows us to bring accessible, pay-as-you-feel and socially engaged opera to all audiences.

And there are many ways to support us:

✨ You can donate and help provide essential financial support via the Australian Cultural Fund:
https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2EMn00000R7BK9MAN/support-the-cooperative-2026

✨Donate in-kind resources - we’re always thrilled to hear about rehearsal space, billeting for artists, set, costume, props, lighting equipment, transport, and more

✨Donate time and skill - on- or offstage, there are many ways to get involved and many roles to play

If you’d like to discuss a donation, have any questions, or just want to get in touch, email us any time - [email protected]

We look forward to hearing from you ✨

23/06/2026

✨ 2026 ✨

2026 is looking to be a very exciting year at The Cooperative, and we're absolutely delighted to share it with you through innovative, immediate, and urgent opera.

We're thrilled to bring this wonderful season to life - featuring, for the first time, productions in two cities.

In Sydney, we will present two compelling, haunting, and incisive works: Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Luigi Dallapiccola's Il prigioniero, both as a double bill and amongst our inaugural festival of independent opera. Two powerful works of resistance in the face of totalitarian oppression, this double bill speaks urgently and enduringly, across time and place to our world today.

And in Melbourne, our "goosebump-inducing" Nabucco (2025) will return to the stage. Heralded as "hair raising ... opera for and of the people" (Limelight), we are delighted to revive our production of Verdi and Solera's radical protest opera, which resonates with us as deeply as with the audience of its premiere, and all those in between.

Would you like to join us on- (or off-) stage? Stay tuned for artist callouts, or email us at [email protected] to get involved.

Would you like to help us bring this season to life? We are extremely grateful for the generous support that allows us to bring accessible, pay-as-you-feel and socially engaged opera to all audiences, and tremendously appreciate donations to our company. Donate via the Australian Cultural Fund (link below), or email us at [email protected] if you would like to donate time, resources, or value-in-kind.

https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2EMn00000R7BK9MAN/support-the-cooperative-2026

2026

DER KAISER VON ATLANTIS / IL PRIGIONIERO
Sydney | October - November

NABUCCO
Melbourne | November

We look forward to seeing you in 2026 ✨

The Cooperative is a Sydney-based opera company with a passion for social justice. We believe in creating art that is accessible to all and pertinent to the world around us today.

09/09/2025

✨ NABUCCO ✨

🎉 THANK YOU 🎉

Thank you to everyone who joined us, supported us, and sent well wishes for Nabucco! It was such an honour to bring this incredible, urgent, and necessary opera to life, and to share this production with you all.

Thank you also to our incredible cast, creative and music teams, crew, and orchestra, for all your hard work, energy, commitment, time, enthusiasm, and skill. You all gave so much of yourselves to this very special production, and we are so grateful, fortunate, and proud to have you with us.

We are delighted to share our fundraising total, the highest in our company’s history. We received $5302.05 in pay-as-you-feel entry online and at the door, which will primarily go to mutual aid efforts providing essential humanitarian aid in Gaza.

If you missed Nabucco, don’t despair! We’ll be back very soon - stay tuned for more details of next year and beyond at www.thecooperativeopera.org

For now, thank you, from us all.

🎶

📸: Eddy Furlong