Who we are
Music Theatre Wales (MTW) exists to breathe new life into opera, presenting it as storytelling in music and seeking to revitalise opera as a universally accessible and expressive activity. We nurture artists who will create the opera of the future and present opera in imaginative ways that will help change the deeply entrenched preconceptions of what opera is and can be. We are asking: What is Opera? Who is making it? and Who is it for?
For 40 years, MTW has been a force for change and development in opera in the UK, creating transformational opportunities for artists and audiences to create and access contemporary opera, often for the first time.
Working with many of the most acclaimed composers of our time, we have created 53 live productions, including 23 world premieres, and made 4 digital works. Most recently we have created and toured a critically acclaimed production, Violet by Tom Coult and Alice Birch (a co-commission and co-production with Britten Pears Arts and staged in association with the London Sinfonietta), which has now been nominated for a UK Theatre Award.
With a history of creating innovative work, we have applied this thinking to ourselves – asking what value can we bring to society as makers of new opera? Our answer is to re-imagine what opera is and create work that truly reflects Wales and the UK as it now is. We will achieve this by asking the very artists who have been ignored or excluded from opera to bring their skills, vision, stories and music to a form which is crying out for a new direction and a new audience. We aim to bring opera back in touch with more people and more communities.