DISCOVER THE 2023 IMMERSIVE RESIDENCY AT THE HEART OF THE FESTIVAL D’AIX!

IMMERSIVE RESIDENCY
JANUARY 2023 – MARCH 2024

In an effort to open up the world of opera, enoa, with the support of the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, has launched the second edition of its Immersive Residency. This programme welcomes 11 talented artists who are established in their respective field but lack experience in opera. It aims to introduce these individuals to the process of operatic creation, and to support them in their reflections and creative ambitions. Discover the portraits of the 11 artists in residency.

The recruitment process was led by a group of independent experts who pre-selected roughly fifty applications. Based on the preferences expressed by the candidates, each institution within the network chose one resident artist among the proposed candidates.

The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence has chosen Zoe Aiano, a British filmmaker.

Filmmaker, editor, and translator, Zoe Aiano has a background in visual anthropology. Her work focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, and her area of interest is intangible cultural heritage and the representation of women. She is one of the co-founders of the Wild Pear Arts group in Serbia, with which she made her first feature-length documentary, Flotacija. She participated in the 2022 IDFA Project Space programme (formerly, the IDFAcademy) and was selected for the Wapping Artist Residency in Berlin and the Pépinières Européennes de Création residency in Quebec. She also writes about cinema and regularly contributes to the East European Film Bulletin.

Within the Académie du Festival d’Aix, Zoe Aiano will attend rehearsals of opera productions and engage in dialogue with the artists who create them, as well as with individuals involved in opera programming, communication, production, mediation, distribution, etc. She will operate within a setting that fosters openness, exchange, discovery and reflection. Outside of the Festival period, the artist will have the opportunity to visit partner opera houses and attend workshops as part of enoa.

IMMERSIVE WORKSHOP
29 JUNE – 1 JULY

The Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence is pleased to welcome the mid-term workshop of the enoa Immersive Residency #2 programme, from 29 June to 1 July 2023, in Aix-en-Provence.

This three-day workshop will benefit from the momentum of the launch of the Festival, which is to begin on 4 July. Thanks to the timing, this immersion will enable participants to experience the final preparations of the Festival: dress rehearsals, the presence of all the artists, and the arrival in Aix of other professionals in the sector. During this same period, the last events of Aix en Juin will also be taking place, serving as a prelude to the July Festival. The Aix en Juin events, which are free for the general public, also offer a special place to artists participating in other residencies of the Académie.

The two artists leading this workshop are familiar faces at the Festival d’Aix: the American soprano Claron McFadden, who joined the Medinea session concert of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra in 2022 (see pictures here); and Sjaron Minailo, a Dutch-Israeli stage director who participated in the Académie’s Opera Creation Workshop in 2014. Improvising pianist Dimitar Bodurov will join Claron McFadden for an improvisation and vocal workshop.

The goal of this immersive workshop is to offer a space for reflection and collective improvisation, and the opportunity to attend a variety of events (e.g. performances, conferences, guided tours). These three days will help participants appreciate the great diversity of artists in the world of opera.