The Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera supports professional development of young, talented opera artists.
Opera Academy helps exceptionally talented singers' transition from education to professional life by offering them opportunities of further development and training with excellent teachers and opera artists: vocalists, directors, répétiteurs, linguists, and specialists in psycho-phisical vocal techniques, e.g. Izabella Kłosińska, Anita Garanča, Olga Pasichnyk, Doris Yarrick-Cross, Paola Larini, Richard Cross, Andrzej Dobber, Eytan Pessen, David Pountney, Dmitri Vdovin, or Andrejs Žagars.
Participants are offered regular workshops and master classes, individual vocal, drama, and linguistic coaching sessions, as well as permanent professional support. Implemented in association with music education facilities in Poland and abroad, the programme provides young vocalists a chance to gain stage experience and make their first appearance on the international music scene.
In 2013 the programme was extended to support also young pianists willing to specialise in vocal coaching and eager to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to become a répétiteur. These young pianists are offered classes and consultations with Anna Marchwińska, head of pianists at the Warsaw opera, and Eytan Pessen; they are also given opportunity to accompany the Academy's vocalists during their training sessions.
Opera Academy has been further developing since 2010, thanks to the Teatr Wielki's joining enoa – the European Network of Opera Academies, which brings together eleven culture institutions form ten countries. The Teatr Wielki holds master classes under enoa auspices and recommends Opera Academy's participants to take part in workshops held by other enoa institutions, featuring such teachers as Susanna Eken, José van Dam, Helen Donath, Chance, and others. Opera Academy trainee artists' participation in such projects is funded by the Teatr Wielki.
