MTW seeks a music-creator to collaborate with young people to create a new digital opera
A full job and person specification, as well as further details of the project timescale, can be found here: Full Job Pack
MTW seeks a music-creator to collaborate with young people to create a new digital opera
We are looking for a music-creator to join our Future Directions programme, working in RCT on a freelance basis from September 2024 to July 2025. The role is designed for creators of any age with a passion to collaborate, and we especially welcome people who have experienced barriers in their career. We are not specifically looking for music-creators who have experience of opera, music theatre or classical music – we like to work with creatives who want to explore storytelling in music through any musical genre and in response to the music and text that the young people create.
About MTW and Future Directions
MTW wants to be a force for change: to challenge people’s perception of opera by collaborating with artists new to opera and by imagining other ways of creating it. We believe that if we challenge our own understanding of opera, we can prove that it’s an art form for people from all areas of society today.
Now heading into its third year, Future Directions is MTW’s young people’s programme that explores how opera can become a powerfully expressive form for people of all backgrounds and identities. Working in collaboration with professional artists, a group of young, neurodiverse1 people aged 16 to 25 devise and make a new digital opera, exploring their ideas and learning from and inspiring each other and the supporting artists. The project and digital opera is delivered bilingually in English/Welsh.
How does the project work?
Recruitment workshops take place between September and December 2025. Working with project partners, we meet and work with young people to give them a flavour of what the project involves.
The creation part of the project is bookended by two 3-day residencies, one in February 2025 and one in May 2025 at a venue within the RCT area. In between residencies, MTW host regular Zoom sessions to carry on the creation process and build on ideas from the first residency. We also provide a slack channel where the creative team and participants can communicate and interact, sharing their creative ideas and develop the concept.
The culmination of the project will be a live premiere of the digital opera at Parc & Dare Theatre, Treorchy on 11 September 2025. The digital opera will also be released on MTW’s website and YouTube channel and will form part of MTW’s main artistic programme.
The role of the music-creator
You will take part in recruitment workshops, working with interested young people to explore making music together including singing and encouraging them to take part in the main creative process.
During the main creative process, you will support and collaborate with the young people to create an original digital opera. You can see the two previous, and very different, digital operas on our website.
During the two residencies, the work will be recorded by you and by a film-maker in collaboration with the young people and the rest of the creative team.
As an opera-based project, you will bring all the musical ideas together to form a continuous work of storytelling in music, calling on both your compositional and collaborative skills.
The final editing process will be undertaken by you and the film-maker, supported by MTW’s Director. The resulting new work will be presented as an MTW production on our website and will also inspire our future work including projects with young people, support our understanding of audiences in Wales, and champion the creativity of young people from Wales.
Who can apply?
You don’t need to a be a classical musician to work with us – in fact we’re really excited that you might not be a classical musician, and want to mix different traditions, such as rap or folk as well as classicaltrained. We believe in developing a diverse future of music in Wales. Whatever the music you’re making, you’re passionate about your creativity and ambitious to develop.
You have a minimum of 2 years' experience of creating music. This may have been, for example, an education or training course, a job or a voluntary role. You will be able to show us that you have a sustained commitment to creating your own music. You do not have to have previous facilitation experience, but it may be useful.
We want to hear from a wide range of music-creators, including individuals who are under-represented in, or have faced exclusion from, the opera and arts community. You may be from a lower socioeconomic background and have encountered barriers and challenges in pursuing a career in music.
MTW is committed to being an equal opportunities employer and is committed to improving its diversity in order to reflect the communities it serves. We encourage applicants from the broadest range of backgrounds, with different skills and experiences to bring into our organisation. As part of our commitment to increasing the diversity of our workforce we provide a guaranteed interview scheme to applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the job who are disabled, neurodivergent or people of the global majority.
We welcome applications from Welsh-speakers and non-Welshspeakers and we will seek to provide a bi-lingual project to maximise engagement.
You have the legal right to work in the UK and will need an up to date DBS check. We will also ask you to complete a short online safeguarding course.
Who else is involved?
The music-creator will be part of a professional team who will facilitate the young people in making their own digital opera. You will work alongside Project Lead & Director/Dramaturg Jain Boon, an opera singer / vocal animateur and a filmmaker to help a group of around 12 neurodiverse young people build their ideas and create a new work that will be presented as a Music Theatre Wales production.
Want to know more before applying?
We’ll be hosting an informal information / Q&A session on Saturday 29th June from 11am to 12 noon. This is a chance to find out more about the music-creator role, about Music Theatre Wales and our Future Directions programme, and to ask questions.
Webinars will be hosted by Jain Boon (Future Directions Project Lead & Director/Dramaturg) and Michael McCarthy (MTW’s Director).
To book a slot at this event please register here.
After the information / Q&A session, if you're interested but have more questions, you can book a confidential chat with Michael, MTW’s Director by, emailing him at michael@musictheatre.wales
Timeline
Online Q&A session:
Application deadline:
Interviews:
Start date:
Residencies:
Completion of digital opera:
Public premiere:
MTW will also ask you to participate in its evaluation processes and will schedule a one-to-one meeting at the end of the project to discuss the project and how its outcomes were met.
Terms
Contract: Freelance contract for approximately 12 months (dependent on start date), covering the main workshops, residencies, and completion of the production/editing of the music, as outlined in the timeline above.
Based at: This role combines remote/home-working with in-person sessions. While much of the work can be done remotely, practical sessions and residencies will take place on location in the RCT area. Additionally, MTW’s offices are at Chapter, Cardiff, and some in-person meetings at MTW’s offices may be required.
Fee: £5,000 for the full contract and for completion and delivery of the digital opera.
Reasonable and pre-agreed expenses will be reimbursed – these will be discussed and agreed based on the music-creator’s home base / working location.
Benefits: MTW offers an Employee Assistance Programme via Health Assured which provides health and wellbeing support for anyone working for MTW on either a permanent, freelance or volunteer basis.
MTW is committed to supporting ongoing professional development and will work closely with the music-creator to ensure that their needs in this area are met. Recognised safeguarding training will be provided and paid for as part of the role.
Making an application
To apply, write an email or record a video, telling us about yourself and your experience. Tell us about your music, how and why you create it as well as anything else you think of that is important to know.
Your email (which can include a CV if you want to send one) or video application should be sent to kathryn@musictheatre.wales by 12 noon on Friday 12 July 2024.
Information to include in your application and/or CV:
- Your name, email address, home address and phone number.
- Information on the work and/or training you’ve undertaken.
- Tell us what you have been doing in music
- Why you’re excited about being involved in Future Directions and how you hope it will influence your music
- Send us a link to two pieces of your music
- Include the names of 2 referees who will vouch for you. We won’t contact them without asking you first. (They should be people who know you through education, employment, volunteering or personal interests, not someone related to you and not a close friend.)
- You must fill out this equal opportunities monitoring form when you submit your application. It’s anonymous, and lets us know if we’re reaching the right people - it won’t form part of the selection process and won’t be seen by the panel.
Interviews will take place on Monday 29 July 2024 and the interview panel will be Michael McCarthy (MTW’s Director) and Jain Boon (Future Directions Project Lead & Director/Dramaturg). If you’re shortlisted, we’ll send you the questions in advance.