ArtHouse Jersey is offering young adults aged 18 to 30 the chance to co-create a brand new opera for the Island as part of Raise Your Voice, Jersey!
For those who have ever wondered how opera, musicals, or theatre is made, this opportunity sees our community right at the heart of the creative process, alongside a team of leading industry professionals. The process begins with a series of writing and composition workshops between Saturday 29 March and Sunday 6 April 2025.
Whether people are interested in writing, music, theatre, singing, storytelling, or just looking for a new creative experience, this is an incredible opportunity to collaborate with a stellar creative team at ArtHouse Jersey and see ideas come to life on stage.
This project is developed and presented in partnership with Jersey Opera House, where the show will premiere in Spring 2026.
Why join?
Raise Your Voice, Jersey! is all about amplifying the voices of Jersey’s younger generation, turning their stories and experiences into something powerful for the stage. Too often, younger perspectives are missing from public conversations, while positions of power and influence remain with older generations. Opera has always been a way to challenge ideas, share fresh perspectives, and open windows to new worlds. This is your chance to be part of reshaping that tradition, working with a team of top professionals to create something bold, relevant, and entirely your own.
This project is about more than just the performing arts – it’s about community, creativity, and connection. By taking part, you will develop skills in storytelling, composition, drama, and gain insight into how theatre works are created. You will meet awesome people and form lasting local connections, while you have fun experimenting, innovating, and helping to redefine what opera can be. This is a chance to help shape a bold and fresh take on opera, where Jersey’s people, landscapes, history, and local legends become the foundation for something truly unique.
Why opera? Why now?
Opera isn’t just about grand arias and powdered wigs – it’s about storytelling and bringing communities together through shared experiences. It blends music, drama, movement, and design to bring stories to life in ways that are deeply emotional, playful, and resonant. Raise Your Voice, Jersey! will explore:
- Place – This Place, Now: How do we capture the rhythm of Jersey? From the eerie beauty of Fliquet Bay at low tide to the fast-paced energy of the International Financial Centre, music can transport us anywhere.
- People – Rebels, Refugees & Local Heroes: From Neolithic settlers to WWII resistance fighters, Jersey has always been shaped by extraordinary people. But does every story need a hero and a villain?
- Storytelling – Myth, Mystery & Memory: The Island is full of legends, ghost stories, and hidden histories. How do these shape how we see the world today?
ArtHouse Jersey Producer Robyn Cabaret, said: “ArtHouse Jersey believes in the power of the arts to improve overall well-being, develop confidence, and provide young people with new opportunities. Whether you’re in full-time work, an apprenticeship or internship, or are still figuring things out, this project is open for you. It is about more than just the performing arts – it’s about community, creativity, and connection.
“By taking part, participants will have a unique opportunity to work with seasoned professionals to redefine opera as an art form and co-create a brand new production with, by, and for the Island. We are excited to partner with Jersey Opera House to develop and present the premiere performances in Spring 2026. No experience is necessary – we ask participants to come curious and with an open mind! We can’t wait to hear the story that you want to tell.”
Pictured: Georgia Mae Bishop. Credit: Blake Watson Photography
