Opera Scotland

New Opera from NOISE: Hirda

Posted 15 Jun 2015

Hirda is a new opera for Shetland commissioned and produced by NOISE (New Opera In Scotland Events), supported by Creative Scotland. It is a collaboration between Shetland fiddler and composer, Chris Stout, classical composer Gareth Williams, and librettist Sian Evans, a Welsh playwright and linguist.
The opera will be premièred in the Mareel Arts Centre in Lerwick, Shetland on Thursday 26 November 2015, before touring to three community halls on the Shetland Islands and then to Edinburgh's Queen's Hall (Thursday 3 & Friday 4 December) and two in the Drygate (craft brewery), Glasgow (Monday 7 & Tuesday 8 December).

Tickets are now on sale. NOISE was founded in 2011 to broaden the audience for contemporary opera in Scotland.

The composers are delighted to be involved with the project, and Gareth Williams, who has a particular passion for writing opera said, ''Chris Stout and I have waited for over ten years to work with each other." Chris Stout added, ''This project provides me with a welcome opportunity to explore the world of opera while remaining true to my own folk tradition.'

Its creation follows a period of research and development on the Shetland Islands, in line with NOISE's wish to make operas for particular communities throughout Scotland, inspired by specific places, their history and stories of the people connected with them. This material is used to create new operas, Hirda being one of them. This is NOISE's second opera, the first being the Sloans Project.

Sian Evans, Librettist commented "There can be few places in Western Europe like Shetland, where the life of the past is so present. This is what I wanted to show – the sense of continuity, of modern lives lived in the wake of others long gone."
Clare Hewitt, Development Officer at Creative Scotland, said: "This is a great opportunity for Shetland communities to experience an exciting and original opera created for them, and to share it with audiences in Edinburgh and Glasgow. We are delighted to support the fantastic creative team of artists, producers and performers who will bring Hirda to life." 

To learn more, click through the link here.