On 14 May, the Ukrainian opera laboratory Opera aperta, founded by composers Roman Hryhoriv and Ilya Razumeyko, won The Classical:NEXT Innovation Award 2025, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of classical music.
The award ceremony took place in Berlin at the Colosseum, a historic cinema, one of the oldest in the city.
The jury recognised the team's unique style, artistic experiments and significant contribution to the development of contemporary opera. "Opera aperta is one of the most interesting companies in the contemporary opera ecosystem. Their work is a combination of interesting ideas and a unique artistic style, and their operas over the past 5-10 years have been very memorable. Opera aperta is a force that drives and changes the Ukrainian opera scene," the award communiqué reads.
"This award is important not only for us and the team, but also for our country as a whole. It is a step towards greater visibility and recognition in the international professional community. Today, all relevant awards shape our culture, reminding us of the terrible genocidal war," said Roman Hryhoriv, composer and co-founder of Opera aperta.
The committee especially noted the previous archaeological opera Chornobyldorf, which had 15 performances on international stages in New York, Liverpool, Rotterdam and other cities.
"We received the award not only for the performance, but also as an organisation that has been working with contemporary opera in Ukraine for a long time. This is an award for a large team of people who worked on Chornobyldorf, Genesis. Opera of Memory, GAIA-24. Co-producer Volodymyr Burkovets took the Chornobyldorf sets to Britain twice on his own, and sound director Andriy Nidzelskyy recorded at least three operas during video expeditions. Now Volodymyr and Andriy are in the army, we miss them, we are grateful for their choice and dedicate this award to them," says Olha Dyatel, the producer of the performance.
On 4 June, the Opera aperta laboratory will present a new opera GAIA-24. Opera del Mondo. The impetus for the opera was the blowing up of the Kakhovka Dam. A year ago, on 10 May, the world premiere of GAIA-24. Opera del Mondo took place in Kyiv on 10 May, after which it was shown at leading festivals in Rotterdam, Vienna, Venice and Berlin. After a year of international presentations, the updated version of the opera can be seen in Kyiv on the main stage of the Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Drama Theatre.
About The Classical:NEXT Innovation Award:
- The Classical:NEXT Innovation Award is aimed at supporting innovative projects in the field of classical music and opera.
- Nominations are made by a special committee consisting of 13 members - renowned journalists and industry experts. The committee draws up a long list of nominees and then selects a short list of ten projects by voting. The final winners are determined by an online vote among all registered Classical:NEXT delegates.
- Three winners receive the award each year.
- The award is part of the Classical:NEXT conference and festival, which takes place every year in Berlin, Germany.
- In 2025, Classical:NEXT will take place from 12 to 15 May.
- Classical:NEXT brings together more than 1,400 professionals from over 49 countries