Opportunities
Find out about how you can get involved with the Jette Parker Artists Programme
Applications are now open for JPAP Opera Lab 2026/2027.
If you would like to sign up to our mailing list to find out about future Jette Parker Artists Programme (JPAP) Opportunities, please complete this online form. Interest from artists under-represented in our talent pool and within the wider sector is particularly welcomed.
Courses
OPERA LAB: BROKERING OPERA FOR NEW CREATORS
Applications for this course are now open.
Following a successful pilot project in 2024/25, JPAP is inviting applications from playwrights, poets, devisers, director, dramaturgs and music-theatre makers to join its second cohort of theatre creators interested in applying their storytelling and collaborative expertise to new opera.
Established makers new to and curious about opera are invited to the Royal Opera House for 5 weekends from October 2026 to March 2027 to explore what it takes to make a successful piece of opera. A pool of expert coaches and opera creators will share skills, tools and inspiration, as well as offering a safe space to play and interrogate form. You will have special access to Royal Opera production rehearsals, analyse canonical and contemporary works, share practice and ideas and explore what makes for a successful relationship between text, theatre and music. The course is curated by Head of JPAP Elaine Kidd with composer Philip Venables.
The group’s own creative focus will be the fashioning of short-form operas, with one of the weekends devoted to devising short works with classical singers and instrumentalists who are used to improvising.
Please see below for more information about the Opera Lab 26/27 Programme:
Discover more about the pilot opera Opera Lab programme from the inaugural cohort here:
Writing Opportunities
See OPERA LAB course information above.
Directors Opportunities
See OPERA LAB course information above.
Women and Marginalised Gender Conductors
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.
Any upcoming conducting opportunities in the next Season will be posted here.
Ballet Conducting Course
Applications for this course are now closed.
In January 2026 JPAP held a three-day course for women and marginalised gender conductors, led by Birmingham Royal Ballet Music Director Paul Murphy, with guest tutor and Constant Lambert Fellowship alumna Charlotte Politi. This course was a JPAP collaboration with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the Royal Ballet Music Staff and the Royal Ballet Aud Jebsen Young Dancers.
Please see below for more information on the course:
Opera Conducting – The Conductor as Dramaturg
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.
Observerships
Applications for observerships are currently closed. Information about Observership opportunities in the 2026/27 Season will be advertised on this webpage from Summer 2026.
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.
- Conductor observerships may include the opportunity to watch a Sitzprobe or orchestra alone, a stage orchestra rehearsal or a live show from backstage with an offstage band.
- Director observerships may include sessions ranging from chorus or cover calls in the studio to rehearsals on stage.
- Lighting designer observerships may involve spending the day with a range of lighting staff to understand the design journey from initial conception to realisation encompassing production meetings, a working rehearsal and the visualisation suite.
Applying for an Observership
We aim to reply to your application within one month 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.
Other Opportunities
Audition for the Jette Parker Artists
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