The Orange Foundation supports "Tous à l’Opéra !", an initiative by the Réunion des Opéras Français (ROF) to enable a wider audience to discover the operatic arts,
28 operas houses and theaters throughout France and 100 operas in total throughout Europe will be opening their doors to everyone on Saturday May 8 and Sunday May 9, 2010
The theme for this "Tous à l’opéra !" event is "Building bridges", with all these initiatives bringing the opera closer to people.

Many opera houses will be opening their doors, as well as their backstage areas, offering free access for all on May 8 and 9. People will be able to attend shows and rehearsals, meet the performers and technical teams, visit the back stage areas, discover the set and costume workshops, watch screenings of opera performances, and more.
During this weekend, 28 French opera houses will be supporting this event: Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Besançon, Bordeaux, Caen, Compiègne, Dijon, Reunion, Lille, Limoges, Marseille, Massy, Metz, Montpellier, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Paris, Reims, Rouen, Saint-Etienne, Strasbourg, Toulon, Toulouse and Tours.

Operas' cultural action
All year round, many opera houses are looking to attract new audiences thanks to inventive and original actions: carrying out awareness and integration initiatives, opening up to young and family audiences, ensuring accessibility for the visually impaired, carrying out actions with community centers, hospitals or disabled people, etc.
For instance, each year the Rhine national opera (Strasbourg, Mulhouse and Colmar), supported by the Orange Foundation, rolls out a major musical program aimed at audiences who would not naturally have access to the opera: audiences who are young, isolated for social or geographical reasons.

Orange Foundation's actions supporting vocal music
Since 1987, the Foundation has been encouraging collective vocal music, contributing to the discovery of new voices, the training of young singers and the emergence of vocal groups.
In over 20 years, the Orange Foundation has supported the development of 100 choirs and vocal groups, performing medieval, baroque, contemporary and world music, driven by a genuine artistic project. It is involved throughout the chain of musical work: detecting, training, producing, broadcasting and recording.
It also supports various festivals and opera houses which are developing programs for the professional integration of young performers, as well as socio-pedagogical projects aimed at raising awareness of musical creation among new audiences.
In line with this commitment, the Orange Foundation is supporting "Tous à l’Opéra !", which will enable a wide audience to visit opera houses, take part in workshops and discover the operatic arts.

Furthermore, the Orange Foundation is encouraging several opera theaters to develop access for visual impairments thanks to an audio-description system enabling the visually impaired to receive information during the performance on the play, the set and the performers' movements, enjoying the full opera experience (Opéra de Bordeaux, Opéra de Lille, Théâtre musical de Besançon, Opéra Comique in Paris, etc.).

The Orange Foundation
Since its creation in 1987, the Orange Foundation has been conducting a major programme of corporate philanthropy which is the continuation of its company mission: giving everyone the means to communicate, fighting against sensory and social isolation as well as promoting cultural fulfilment. The Orange Foundation is involved in three fields:
health/disability to create links by helping autistic persons, and seeking to improve the autonomy and quality of life of persons suffering from visual or auditory impairments.
education to build links by contributing to the fight against illiteracy and by encouraging the education of girls in developing countries.
culture for developing links by supporting the collective practice of vocal music.
Beyond its actions in France, the Foundation unites and coordinates all group corporate philanthropy initiatives throughout the world. Projects are thus supported in 30 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

www.orange.com/fondation - www.orange.com/fondation/blog

Tout le programme sur www.tous-a-lopera.fr