Garsington Opera widens its film screenings programme.

Garsington Opera 2014, Vert-Vert with Robert Murray & Fflur Wyn
Photo Credit Mike Hoban

For the last three years, one of Garsington Opera's summer presentations has been been broadcast live on a large screen in Skegness; this year it was the turn of Offenbach's Vert-Vert presented as part of the East Lincolnshire SO Festival. Now Garsington Opera is teaming up with East Lindsey District Council to extend this. Garsington Opera in partnership with the council has been awarded a grant of £750,000 to deliver free public screenings of opera in conjunction with educational projects. 

The screenings will be taking place throughout the country, and the project will be delivered through members of the Coastal Communities Alliance which has identified areas of low engagement with the arts. The project represents and admirable attempt to widen access and engagement with the arts, especially as there is a strong educational element. Though, as ever, I do rather worry about the increasing replacement of live opera by filmed live opera