It’s been an honor to work with my colleagues at Opera Europa, Ópera Latinoamérica, and the Association for Opera in Canada to plan the second World Opera Forum, which takes place in June in Los Angeles as a prelude to Opera Conference 2024.

 I’m often asked to explain the forum. For nearly 20 years, Nicholas Payne, former director of Opera Europa, and I dreamed of bringing our members together for a joint meeting to explore topics that were shaping the opera field in Europe and North America, perhaps on a periodic basis. Ignacio García-Belenguer, general director of the Teatro Real in Madrid, was excited by the idea, and by 2018, Ópera Latinoamérica had been formed and OPERA America’s relationship with the Association for Opera in Canada had grown stronger than ever. Thanks to Ignacio’s leadership, support from the Spanish government brought the dream to fruition when the first World Opera Forum convened in Madrid.

Now, thanks to the tremendous support of former OPERA America board member C. Graham Berwind, III, and the additional generosity of current board members and friends of OPERA America, the second World Opera Forum — delayed for a time by the pandemic — will be truly global. Multiple representatives from six continents will participate in facilitated discussions about four topics that were determined over several meetings by members of our associations.

As in Madrid six years ago, there is worldwide agreement about these four topics. Of special interest are the regional differences in the interpretation of these issues and strategies to address them. It is in the articulation of these differences that the most significant learning connections can be made. Different perspectives are rooted in cultural policies and practices steeped in local traditions and national heritage. Listening to learn and embracing ideas that are new and perhaps challenging to inherited ways of thinking deepens our understanding of ourselves and what we do. This is at the heart of the World Opera Forum.

This year, an easy-to-use digital platform will enable registered members to make comments and ask questions of the official delegates, and everyone will gather together at receptions and performances. Annual conference sessions will flow from the forum, with a focus on the particular challenges of producing opera in North America and practical sessions about applying theory to practice.

In the evenings of both the forum and conference, there will be a veritable opera festival. Los Angeles Opera offers two operas: David Hockney’s legendary production of Puccini’s Turandot and the world premiere of Fire and Blue Sky by Joel Thompson and Imani Tolliver. Performances by Long Beach Opera, Pacific Opera Project, Beth Morrison Projects, and other LA-area producers will give Angelenos and visitors a sense of the creative scope of American opera.

Some years from now, another World Opera Forum will convene on another continent. This year, we will be delighted to welcome members to Los Angeles for a unique opportunity to celebrate opera as a global art form and return home with new insights and friends from around the world.