Find out about how you can get involved with the Jette Parker Artists Programme
Applications are currently open for Observerships.
If you would like to sign up to our mailing list to find out about future JPAP Opportunities, please complete this online form. Interest from artists under-represented in our talent pool and within the wider sector is particularly welcomed.
Observerships aim to demystify the creative process with the Royal Ballet and Opera and demonstrate to emerging musicians and creatives the scale of working at an international opera house.
Observerships take place over the course of a single day or over multiple sessions within a single production period. Participants can join morning, afternoon and/or evening sessions on one day to see various productions at different stages in their creation, or visit a specific production at multiple points in their evolution.
Deadline for applications
Applications for observerships in the 2024/2025 season will be accepted twice throughout the year.
You can apply for both at the same time. However, observerships will only be assigned after each respective deadline.
Repertory includes The Tales of Hoffmann, Turandot and Carmen
We are thrilled to offer a unique observership opportunity within the lighting department at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, one of the busiest repertory theatres in the world.
Spend an immersive day with the lighting team and gain invaluable insights into the entire lighting process, from initial design concepts through to the final production.
This is a rare opportunity to shadow our lighting team and experience the creative and technical process that brings our shows to life.
Autumn
Friday 1 November 2024: The Tales of Hoffmann (Lighting Designer: Alessandro Carletti)
Spring
Festen (Lighting Designer: Lucy Carter)
Summer
Semele (Lighting Designer: Fabiana Piccioli)
Applications for Observerships are now open.
We aim to reply to your application within two weeks of the deadline or sooner if the opportunity is imminent. Applications will be assessed by a variety of Royal Ballet and Opera departmental representatives and external guests.
We welcome applications from vocational students or early career creatives, musicians and stage directors from all backgrounds, heritages and nationalities. We will give priority consideration to people under-represented in our talent pool.
Bursaries (up to a maximum of £150) are available to UK-based applicants who cannot access these opportunities without financial support. Fill in the bursary application form in addition to the observership application form. Bursary applications will be automatically passed to a separate panel for assessment if you are shortlisted by the observership panel.
Applications for this course are now closed.
Are you a writer, poet, wordsmith, dramaturg, deviser, director or theatre-maker with a passion for storytelling and collaboration? Might your creative practice offer transferable skills to opera and music-theatre?
Established makers new to and curious about opera are invited to the Royal Opera House for five weekends from for a deep dive into what it takes to make a successful piece of opera with the guidance and support of leading practitioners in the field.
The programme will explore what enables effective creative collaborations, and the intricate relationship between text, music and the operatic voice by exploring short-form operas with complete narratives of under ten minutes.
If you are excited to bring your storytelling expertise to a new medium and collaborate with others to push the boundaries of what opera can be, this opportunity is for you.
Please see below for information about the previous Opera Labs course.
See OPERA LAB course information above.
See OPERA LAB course information above.
The Jette Parker Artists Programme offers training opportunities for women and marginalised gender conductors who are emerging in the fields of opera and ballet.
Inspired by the pioneering work of Alice Farnham to improve the career prospects of women conductors, JPAP has run multiple courses for early career conductors. Experienced Royal Opera and guest conductors have shared their skills to help them navigate musical leadership. Over 60 conductors have benefitted from JPAP courses to date as both participants and observers.
In August 2023, JPAP held a five-day conductors’ residency at Snape Maltings, in collaboration with Britten Pears Arts and ENOA, for women and marginalised gender conductors. The Conductor as Dramaturg, led by Kanako Abe and Sian Edwards, along with multi-disciplinary artist and composer Cee Haines, provided participants with the opportunity to prepare and perform excerpts from two recently composed scores. Both scores involved electronic technology: Oliver Leith’s Last Days and Bushra El-Turk’s Woman at Point Zero. On the course, participants delved into the creative possibilities of collaborative work with composers, directors, performers, and sound designers on new works.
Any upcoming conducting opportunities in the next Season will be posted here.
The Jette Parker Artists Programme provides training and opportunities for up to a dozen salaried artists each year. In their two-year employment they work alongside leading international artists and experts in musical style and interpretation to prepare repertory for staged performances, concerts and recitals.
Auditions are held for singers every Season and Stage Directors, Opera and Ballet Conductors and Opera Répétiteurs every second Season.
The Jette Parker Artists Programme is generously supported by Oak Foundation
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales (Company number 480523) Charity Registered (Number 211775)