Opera Beyond

16/02/2023

XR Stage was developed by Kansallisooppera - Finnish National Opera with a vision to create a virtual platform on which we could visualise large-scale stage productions.

The platform provides a comprehensive tool for illustrating sets, designing lights and projections, operating machinery and blocking scenes. It also facilitates communication, enhances efficiency and lets us enjoy unlimited stage time, allowing for better artistic quality.

Watch the video below to know more!

19/09/2022

Thank you Svenska Yle for writing about the conference and interviewing our Artistic Director Lilli Paasikivi, Zoan's Laura Olin and Second Theatre's Erkki Izarra! Virtual theater's possibilities, Metaverse and our XR Stage are discussed among other themes in the article (in Swedish): https://svenska.yle.fi/a/7-10020752

More info about Second Theatre:
https://www.secondtheatre.com/

Operan kan skapas på nytt i en virtuell värld.

15/09/2022

Thank you everyone who participated in the Opera Beyond Conference! Interesting conversations, inspiring keynotes, demos, meeting new people from all around the world and learning new things – a wonderful two days are now over. We'd love to hear your feedback, so we'll be sending a questionnaire to participants soon to find out how to make the event even better and more diverse in the future.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday. In the pictures you can see Marko Ahtisaari's keynote, our Immersive Theatre panelists Samee Haapa and Jessica Creane, Cristina Andersson's presentation and the Diversity and Inclusion Tomorrow and Visioning Stages Beyond panels.

Thank you!

Photos: Eino Ansio

14/09/2022

A wonderful first day of the conference behind us and the second one in full speed with Marko Ahtisaari currently giving a keynote presentation in Almi Hall!

Here are some photos from yesterday by our photographer Eino Ansio. In the photos you can see the XR Stage and Violet demos in the demo area, Tuomas Norvio and Benoit Alary's sound installation, Gillian Bowen's dance performance and Monika Bielskyte and Enara Nazarova's keynotes.

Thank you everyone who participated in the first day!

You can watch the live stream for Wednesday here: https://oopperabaletti.fi/live/opera-beyond-conference-2022-day-2/

14/09/2022

Day 2 of our : Visioning Stages Beyond conference at Almi hall of The Finnish National Opera has started!

You can watch the talks also through the live stream at:

Visioning Stages Beyond. Watch the Opera Beyond Conference live on Stage24!

13/09/2022

Are you ready to kick off the : Visioning Stages Beyond Conference? The event will be starting in 10 minutes at Almi Hall of Kansallisooppera - Finnish National Opera
& you can follow the stream today at: https://lnkd.in/dNgAvVkv 🌟

Visioning Stages Beyond. Watch the Opera Beyond Conference live on Stage24!

07/09/2022

Only 6 days to go! Our latest additions to the conference line-up include:

- Benjamin de Wit (VR days) will talk about creative use of technology and the XR field of tomorrow

- Cristina Andersson (Develor) will take a look at future scenarios for arts and technology – what is our future going to look like?

- Gillian Bowen (Dear Dancer) will perform with Enara Nazarova as well as take part in the New Mediums panel

If you are unable to travel to Helsinki and join the event in person, you can watch our live stream. We will share the link here on our social media and website closer to the event. Tickets are still available: https://operabeyond.com/opera-beyond-conference-2022/

See you soon!

31/08/2022

News, news, news!

We’ve just added Ian Galloway, who is working on an interactive diva for our CircOpera 2.0 performance to be premiered in November, and Auri Antinranta to the line-up of our New Mediums and Expectations of Next Generations for Art & Entertainment panel. Joseph Fowler (World Economic Forum) will be replaced by Marko Ahtisaari (Helsinki Festival), and Sandra Rodriguez (MIT) will give a remote presentation. Tuesday morning will include Ida Kymmer and Dan Burgar’s fireside chat, and our Wednesday Green is the Only Color panel has the new panelists Valentina Bressan and Anne Puolanne (Audiovisual Producers Finland APFI). We’re getting ready to announce our last few mystery speakers – stay tuned!

Tickets and program: https://operabeyond.com/opera-beyond-conference-2022/

22/08/2022

Only 3 weeks to go before the conference starts!

We’re excited to announce more speakers, who will be taking part in the Culture’s Impact in Resilience: Digital Learnings in Times of Crisis panel on Wednesday:

Mika Aaltola, Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
Valeria Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine for European Integration
Kaisa Rönkkö, CEO of Music x Media
Johanna Kaprio-Papageorgiou, Prime Minister’s Office

The panel will be moderated by the Finnish National Opera’s Artistic Director, Lilli Paasikivi. The panel will start our Wednesday morning session’s theme: Building a better world through art and culture.

Tickets are still available: https://operabeyond.com/opera-beyond-conference-2022/

15/08/2022

Only one month to go until the doors to Almi Hall open and the conference may begin!

Here are a few speakers we’ve recently added to the line-up:

Ryan Metcalfe, the founder and Managing Director of visualisation studio Preevue. He will be presenting a project of building a full digital twin of the Royal Opera House’s spaces.

Rita Paqvalén, Executive Director of Culture for All (Kulttuuria kaikille -palvelu), will be joining the Perspectives to Diversity and Inclusion Tomorrow panel.

Blair Stevenson, Principal Lecturer at the Department of Media and Performing Arts, Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk – Oulun ammattikorkeakoulu), will be joining the Visioning Stages Beyond panel on Wednesday.

VR director Eero Tiainen will be joining the New Mediums and Expectations of Next Generations for Art & Entertainment panel.

Urho Konttori, Co-founder and CTO Varjo, will be joining the What’s up, Web 3.0? panel on Tuesday.

Have you got your ticket yet?
You can buy one here: https://operabeyond.com/opera-beyond-conference-2022/

12/08/2022

From multi-speaker immersive sound inside a dome to wearable speakers, from games to augmented reality installations, using accurate head and body tracking, where we can move freely in a real-world space while the story is mediated through headphones by virtual sounds embedded in the environment – here are a few examples of immersive audio uses as a narrative, emotive and thought-provoking tool for live performance, gaming, XR experiences, and audio art pieces.

But what’s the next step for immersive and spatial audio?

Genelec's RD Director Aki Mäkivirta, IRCAM’s researcher Benoît Alary, Verkatehdas’ CEO Janne Auvinen, and sound artists and designers Matias Harju and Tuomas Norvio discuss the newest developments, their current projects, insights, and what’s next for immersive audio. The panel will take place on the 13th of September at the Opera Beyond Conference: Visioning Stages Beyond.

See program and buy tickets: https://operabeyond.com/opera-beyond-conference-2022/

08/08/2022

It’s only five weeks until the Opera Beyond Conference (13-14 September)! Will we see you there? Tickets are still available (124/62/31€) to see top visionaries telling you how to foster innovation in XR business and in , how to create bewitching multisensory stage illusions, what’s next for spatial audio and Metaverse, how to reduce your production’s carbon footprint and more!

The program includes director-producer Sandra Rodriguez (MIT), Dan Burgar (Vancouver VR/AR Association), FEDORA Platform director Edilia Gänz, Head of Arts and Culture at the World Economic Forum Joseph Fowler, sound artist Tuomas Norvio, experts Laura Olin (ZOAN), Ida Kymmer (Journee) and Enara Nazarova (Armoar) and many more amazing speakers – reserve your seat now at https://operabeyond.com/opera-beyond-conference-2022/. We’ll be highlighting one speaker a day in our stories – be sure to check them out, too!