Future of Opera

Workshop series on human–AI improvisation and intelligent staging with opera communities worldwide

The series

This international workshop series brings together key actors in the opera ecosystem (leading opera houses and companies, innovators, independent artists and producers) as well as those new to opera, to explore how immersive tech and trustworthy AI can foster creativity-led innovation in the live arts.

We adopt an interdisciplinary, practice-based methodology combining stakeholder co-creation workshops, iterative prototyping, and ethnographic & arts-based action research. We aim to critically engage questions of agency, authorship, algorithmic governance and equitable value distribution in digitally- and AI-mediated live cultural production.

Our workshops will advance new ideas and legal, ethical, and business model frameworks for civic cultural participation. Together, we will foster a reciprocal exchange in which artistic processes inform AI engineering and sustainable business design, while technological affordances expand creative and participatory possibilities.

First workshop: English National Opera’s Tuning into Opera initiative

19 May 2026, International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester

An experimental workshop exploring digital inclusion and innovation through human–AI improvisation.

This workshop, part of Tuning into Opera, a research and engagement initiative from English National Opera and The University of Manchester, and the OperAI: Future of Opera series, invites you to experience live opera reimagined through ethical human–AI collaboration.

Led by Dr Alexandra Huang-Kokina, Bicentenary Fellow at the University of Manchester and director of Operactive Arts, and Dr Kamila Rymajdo, Research Fellow at English National Opera, the event showcases scenes from a newly-created immersive sci-fi opera series both about and driven by AI. Witness performers collaborate in real time with adaptive AI systems, responding to live audience data, then take part yourself. As playful Yōkai, the mischievous spirits of Japanese folklore, you will get the chance to play in a gamified orchestra via smartphone, directly shaping the performance. We’ll see how AI complement other interactive technologies in making opera more accessible, participatory, and relatable for 21st-century audiences.

This first workshop is generously supported by Creative Manchester at The University of Manchester, and explores how AI technologies can make opera more accessible, participatory, and relevant for 21st-century audiences.

ENO’s ‘Tuning into Opera’: eno.org/engage/tuning-into-opera

Read the news article: Reimagining opera in Greater Manchester: human–AI collaboration and the future of performance

Speakers and performers

Panel & speakers

Executive Producer at English National Opera: Bob Holland
Director of Strategy and Partnerships at English National Opera: Lauren Monaghan-Pisano
Bicentenary Music Fellow at the University of Manchester, Director at Operactive Arts: Dr Alexandra Huang-Kokina
Research Fellow at English National Opera: Dr Kamila Rymajdo
Lecturer in AI at the University of Manchester: Dr Jennifer Cearns
Soprano, composer, and experimental vocalist: Cliona Cassidy

Live performance demonstration

Lead Soprano (Oiwa): Olivia Moss
Lead Baritone (Jacob): John Ieuan Jones
Soprano (Ohana): Rosalind Dobson
Baritone (Board Member): William Kyle
Baritone (Board Member): Ryan Morgan
Soprano (Narrator, Board Member): Cliona Cassidy
Director, Pianist: Dr Alexandra Huang-Kokina
Cellist: Dr Amy Jolly
Violinist: Anna Tulchinskaya

Agenda

4.00pmWelcome from Creative Manchester
4.15pmTech demo (emotion engine)
4.25pmPerformance demonstration with Operactive Arts
5.25pmBreak and audience survey
5.45pmPanel discussion with Dr Alexandra Huang-Kokina, Bob Holland, Dr Jennifer Cearns, Cliona Cassidy, and Lauren Monaghan-Pisano (Chair)Announced in March as: Dr Alexandra Huang-Kokina, Bob Holland, Jennie McCusker, Lauren Monaghan-Pisano (Chair) and Dr Jennifer Cearns
6.15pmDrinks reception

Gallery

Second workshop with Malmö Opera

7–8 October 2026

Co-creation workshop grounded in the empirical context of Malmö Opera’s innovative new production, The Shining (2026). Centred on the co-design of a human–AI interface, the workshop will surface key tensions and opportunities in human–AI creative collaboration from the perspectives of creators, technologists, academics and industry experts.

This workshop is part of the new pilot project, ‘Co-Creative Human-AI Futures: Prototyping a Nordic-UK Immersive Art and Trustworthy AI Network for the Performing Arts’, generously supported by the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program – Humanity and Society (WASP-HS).

Workshop page and registration (Lund University School of Economics and Management)