8 Months with OperaUpClose: My involvement so far

My first 8 months with OperaUpClose has allowed me to gain an exceptional amount of knowledge and experience up until this point so far. I have been involved in a multitude of different projects, working with each department at different points in time in helping the company reach its goals and complete tasks in a time sensitive manner. The different departments I have worked with include, producing, financing, fundraising, marketing and administration.

What tasks have I completed/ been involved with specifically? Each task has varied from big to small. I have worked on different tasks involving myself helping out other members of team and completing smaller requests, as well as planning and managing bigger tasks in a time sensitive manner by prioritising each task given to me.

Here are a handful of examples in different areas that I have been involved with since starting my role.

• Logistics/ Producing:

  (I have worked closest in Logistics/ Producing with Allison Rosser - Executive Producer)

  - For our production of OperaCocktail I took lead in researching and booking a studio for our rehearsals in London.

  - For our production of OperaCocktail I completed availability checks for all the artists involved in the production in order to make sure everyone was available for the dates of the production as well as rehearsals.

  - For the 'Gianni Schicchi' R&D (research and discovery) I arranged accommodation and travel for all artists involved, this included researching the best possibilities

  - For our production of 'Riders To The Sea' I have been arranging and booking all accommodation and travel for the individual artists and crew involved on the tour. This included me researching different accommodations and searching for the cheapest and most sustainable options prior to then booking them.

• Marketing:

  (I have worked closest in Marketing with Grace Welch - previous Marketing Manager)

  - I created all the posters/ social media posts for out production of OperaCocktail which was distributed to venues- you can view this in my portfolio

  - I created / edited the 'Riders To The Sea' trailer along side the social media posts.

  - I created the trailer for 'The Big Give Christmas Challenge' which runs alongside fundraising. This was to raise funds for workshops to take place throughout 2025 for our production of Flotsam in 2026.

  - I created 5 blogs (2 are still under review) which have been uploaded to the OperaUpClose website.

  - I have been running/ creating the newsletters via MailChimp which I sent out to friends and funders of OperaUpClose.

• Fundraising:

  (I have worked closest in Fundraising with Emily Jundi - Development Manager)

  - I have researched different funding organisations and helped our fundraiser Emily by filling her in on which ones would be worth applying for.

  - I helped promote 'The Big Give Christmas Challenge' via marketing on social media and through newsletters.

   

• Finance:

  (I have worked closest in finance with Enya Angell - Company Administrator)

  - I helped budget our R&D for 'Gianni Schicchi' when it came to accommodation and travel for the artists involved - I was able to stay within budget despite changes last minute.

  - I have budgeted accommodation and travel for our production of 'Riders To The Sea' and have managed to go very under budget.

Out of all of the tasks I have completed overall at OperaUpClose, these are the groups that stood out to me the most and I felt have increased my development as a Trainee Producer so far.

Overall I am extremely thankful to be in a working position where I am able to explore and be involved so many different areas and consistently develop my knowledge in the different departments/ roles. By being able to develop in these different areas of expertise, I will ensure to come out of my apprenticeship with knowledge that I will be able to use in future job roles/ creative careers as well as for myself. I'm so excited to see what the next 8 Months bring with my position at OperaUpClose and eventually gaining my Level 3 Events Assistant Certificate.