​Muscat, February 2024: The Royal Opera House Muscat has pursued a very exciting schedule of activities throughout the month of February aimed at extending musical performance and cultural experiences beyond the main programme for the benefit of the community. Among the main initiatives this month, the Open Doors outreach project aimed to bring opera and music to a wider audience in the community with performances from ROHM’s current educational programme at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospitals, Children’s Centre, and the Autism Centre of Muscat.
The Royal Opera House Muscat is known for its exceptional programme of world-class performances including classical music, Arabic music, opera, and ballet. Since January 2024, all performances at ROHM have been sold out, demonstrating the enthusiasm from the local and international audience for the 2023/24 season.
As part of its educational and outreach activities, ROHM organised their Open House event entitled ‘Making Music ’on February 24 with a day of activities in locations across the opera house for children and adults alike. Visitors got stuck in, learning the art of making music from objects and the skills required to create instruments which sing. During this event, the opera house invited the Play Toy Orchestra, the first music band creating symphonies from real toy-instruments, and other artists including Rosa Mazzei and Albert Hera for exceptional workshops on the art of building music.
Extending this event further, the Open Doors initiative was created to support the accessibility and inclusivity of the Royal Opera House Muscat to all. As part of this outreach project, the Play Toy Orchestra along with singer Albert Hera performed from Monday 25th until Tuesday 27th February at different locations in Muscat including Sultan Qaboos University Hospitals, Children’s Centre, and the Autism Centre of Muscat. This initiative opened the door to opera house performances to the wider community, including those who are unable to attend shows in-house.
Umberto Fanni, Director General of the opera house stressed the importance of such initiatives saying “Alongside the founding vision of the opera house to provide enrichment and global cultural partnerships, we have always placed initiatives which connect with the community at the centre of the season’s activities and programme. Bringing all types of performances to our communities, no matter their situation, is a fundamental way to exist as a cultural institution. It makes what we do truly matter and helps us open the door to the royal opera house's unique performances. This week, our performances have found new homes for our Open Doors initiative, in what we hope to be a true collaboration between our institutions that demonstrates the infinite value of art and culture”.
The Open Doors initiative will become an integral part of ROHM’s educational programme, exporting the opera house’s performances to a wider audience in Muscat and beyond. This initiative is integrated within the calendar of educational and outreach activities. In February only, ROHM organised a masterclass with renowned duo, Violinist Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev and Pianist Cem Esen and the Muscat Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as educational talks and workshops to focus on Shakespeare alongside Britten’s opera of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which took place on the opera house stage.