Opera Queensland's Annual Report 2014
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Image by Stephanie Do Rozario OPERA QUEENSLAND’S ANNUAL REPORT 2014 OPERAQ DOES MORE THAN JUST PERFORM $6,713,784 $995,139 2 22 310,095 2014 ANNUAL REPORT THE COMPANY ne of Australia’s major performing arts companies, OOperaQ serves Metropolitan Brisbane and regional/ OUR MISSION remote Queensland through the development and presentation of opera projects that reflect our passion for Excellence, Community and Adventure. To reflect, Three intersecting spheres of engagement are central to achieving our goals: celebrate and • In a range of theatres and venues across Metropolitan enrich life in our Brisbane we present grand opera of excellence and bold creative adventures; communities. • We tour extensively throughout Regional Queensland, creating unique and innovative opportunities for regional artists and audiences to experience opera; and OUR VISION • OperaQ’s Open Stage unit creates first-rate education and community engagement programs for all ages. A boundless Located in the heart of Brisbane’s South Bank cultural precinct, OperaQ enjoys creative partnerships with Griffith University landscape of opera and multiple arts organisations, festivals and presenters across and beyond Queensland. experiences. VALUES CORE GOALS Leadership Stewardship Our work inspires confidence, pride and aspiration. As opera’s custodian we look to the future We set the bar high, producing work of the highest to ensure the art form will flourish. quality, benchmarking ourselves against the best Connection to the world in the world, continually challenging ourselves to To actively participate in the broader world of ideas. progress and evolve. Connection to our communities Adventure To build and maintain strong, meaningful relationships We are imaginative, adaptive and ambitious. with diverse communities across Queensland. We embrace bold ideas, big and small. Excellence, Leadership and Innovation We are not afraid to take risks in exploring new To be recognised for excellence, leadership, artistry pathways and territories. and innovation in all areas of our work. We plan and share creative adventures with like-minded partners. Powerful Brand and Reputation To be recognised as Australia’s most adventurous Relevance opera company. For the communities we serve, the experience we provide Sustainability and Financial Strength is valued and has impact. To ensure we have the people and the resources to realise our ambitious plans. 1 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: TURNING THE CORNER Realising the 2012-2017 The second half of 2014 saw a much improved financial situation for OperaQ with the production of La bohème Strategic Plan in the Conservatorium Theatre, supported by Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, and our collaboration with Brisbane Festival and QPAC in the presentation of The Perfect American. These productions continued the critical acclaim the company has been receiving for its work which included ABANDON and Rigoletto earlier in the year. The undoubted highlight however was our tour of La bohème which produced life changing experiences for the nearly 400 singers who participated in Project Puccini. Our incredible search uncovered local talent to become the choruses for La bohème in eight regional centres from the Gold Coast to Mount Isa. These wonderful performances broke all audience records for an OperaQ tour. In 2014 Opera Queensland began to realise the ambitions There were many other examples in 2014 but Project of the change and transformation agenda first outlined Puccini / La bohème championed our passion for in our 2012 annual report. When I composed my letter collaboration and proved that by working together with to you last year OperaQ had experienced a perfect others we can improve both the quality and the audience storm of disappointing audience numbers for Otello reach of our productions. We thank our eight regional and Rigoletto, both high quality productions with great performing arts centres for co-presenting the tour with Australian artists. It was a difficult time for OperaQ OperaQ and for their commitment and support. We and for that matter international and Australian opera also thank the Graeme Wood Foundation, the John generally which was experiencing similar events. Later Villiers Trust and the Queensland Government’s Playing in the year this prompted the Federal Government’s Queensland Fund, for the significant financial support National Opera Review and I will comment more about that made Project Puccini possible. that later. Our final ‘performances’ for the year were another Last year I wrote that we needed to face these challenges. great collaboration, this time between the Queensland I am pleased to report that OperaQ has responded to Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Queensland Chorus, these challenges superbly, not only in turning around the OperaQ G20 Community Chorus and the magicians the financial performance but doing this with a world from Electric Canvas. As a part of the State’s Cultural first community based initiative in Project Puccini and Program for the G20 leaders meeting, the son et an Australian first with our collaboration for The Perfect lumière presentation The Changing Face of Brisbane American. Equally importantly, we also invested in the transformed the facade of Brisbane’s Treasury Hotel. future of opera with a return to primary school touring The thousands who experienced these free events through FiZZ! – a production developed in collaboration witnessed a great example of how our 400 year art with shake and stir theatre co with the support of form has been sustained by its continuing capacity to Energex. I am proud to report that FiZZ! was enjoyed by generate powerful contemporary statements. more than 10,000 Queensland school children. As a consequence of the hard work of the OperaQ These events clearly reflect the company’s fundamental team and the enthusiastic support of our many partners commitment to deliver exceptional Opera for audiences we have achieved the best financial outcome for the through metropolitan, regional, and community company since 2007, albeit whilst still reporting a small loss. engagement programs. 2 2014 ANNUAL REPORT CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: TURNING THE CORNER CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: TURNING THE CORNER continued Our patrons, supporters and the OperaQ Board were As you will see from the financial information in this vital contributors in making this turnaround possible. report, the major portion of OperaQ’s government Through our philanthropic and corporate support and support comes from the Queensland government. the initial efforts of our 2014/15 annual appeal we raised On the other hand the major portion of the over $950,000 in 2014. This achievement has enabled the Commonwealth government’s support for opera in company to benefit in 2015 from additional ‘leverage’ Australia is allocated to Opera Australia. We are now funding provided by the State government, an outcome awaiting the release of a Discussion Paper which we we hope to repeat in 2015 to benefit 2016. expect will provide a number of options as to the We are very pleased with this achievement, and believe potential direction of the final report of the Review Panel. OperaQ has turned a corner, but we know there is We believe the Discussion Paper will be widely still much to be done to ensure we maintain that new distributed and that written responses will be welcomed. direction. For 2015 we have planned a program very We hope the outcome of the Review will see continued much informed by our financial performance of recent support for the OperaQ transformation journey currently years and, although early days, we are on course for underway and, more importantly, provide a means a modest profit. A consequence of this has been a by which the range of opera experiences available to reduction in the number of our main stage productions, Queenslanders can be enhanced. a situation we are working to address for future seasons, I would like to use this opportunity to pay special tribute but at the same time undertaking a range of new to Nancy Underhill who retired as a director of OperaQ initiatives to broaden the company’s audience base. in April 2015. Nancy had been a director of OperaQ for Already this year we have been thrilled by the response over fifteen years and her commitment demonstrated to the first leg of our regional tour of The Adventures the passion with which she has loved opera throughout of Figaro, designed for smaller regional centres; to our her life. We will miss Nancy’s contribution around the Cloud Song opera ‘experience’ in Fortitude Valley’s board table but are comforted that opera will continue Cloudland; and to our community workshops associated to benefit from her knowledge and enthusiasm in her with La traviata and Candide. At the time of writing we leadership role at the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School. are about to launch our $25 ticket offer for La traviata Finally I would like to thank our key stakeholders, the for 2000 balcony seats in the Lyric Theatre, specifically Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland, designed for ‘first-timers’ to experience why this Verdi and Australia Council for their on-going mentoring masterpiece is the most performed opera in the world. and support. Our patrons, sponsors, performers, We are enthusiastically creating as many pathways as performance partners and the OperaQ team have all possible to introduce new audiences to what we all know made significant contributions and, together with my can be a lifetime passion. colleagues on the OperaQ board, have my gratitude. We anticipate our future plans will be impacted by the I also express my appreciation to the opera lovers of Commonwealth Government’s National Opera Review Queensland: season ticket buyers; occasional purchasers which is examining “the artistic vibrancy, engagement and community participants who can enjoy this with audiences and financial positions of Opera Australia, wonderful art form in so many ways and whose passion State Opera of South Australia, West Australian Opera for opera will be the key to its continued success.