Glyndebourne’s commitment to education and outreach continues with the world premiere of a major new community opera in March 2013. Imago, a contemporary opera with an ‘intergenerational storyline’, is composed by Orlando Gough and will involve 90 local residents. The plot centres on an online game, which allows players to create avatars of their ideal selves. Within the game, the avatars of an elderly woman and a 15-year-old boy develop a strong friendship defying age and generational divides.

Directed by Susannah Waters and designed by Es Devlin (who worked on Glyndebourne’s successful Knight Crew in 2010), the work features a libretto by Glyndebourne regular Stephen Plaice. The company is recruiting amateur singers to perform in two community choruses and will also invite talented young musicians to audition to perform in the Imago orchestra alongside players from the Aurora Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Collon.

‘The exploration of cyber-relationships is a subject that will resonate with many of the young participants who are involved in the project,’ said Plaice. ‘I have tried to capture the edginess and the excitement of the new digital world, while expressing an intensely human drama, between two people at opposite ends of adulthood.’

Tickets for the production are now on sale. For more information visit Glyndebourne.com.