The Lyon Opera’s outreach activities in the fields of culture and education aim for everyone to be included and active in our community’s local, cultural, and social life. Such activities provide opportunities for people to access the Opera, discover the arts and take part in workshops. Part of the Opera’s programme is aimed towards young people from age 2 and up; a special project « Lycéens et Apprentis au Spectacle » (“High Schoolers and Apprentices at the Show”) was implemented, as well as diverse programs throughout the land, programs for Cultural and Artistic Education, a network of cultural cooperation, a Cultural and Artistic Resources centre, training for the Éducation Nationale, joint projects with health and social organizations, rehabilitation programs with carceral organizations. These innovative, bold initiatives are meant for everyone and are set to accompany them throughout their lives.

Outreach initiatives
Each season, the Opera provides cultural and artistic activities in collaboration with organizations in the fields of education, social work, health, law and rehabilitation. The artists (Orchestra, Maîtrise, Choir and Ballet), tech crews and associate artists joined forces to help the Opera fashion outreach initiatives for the arts while being particularly mindful of those who are geographically distant from performing arts facilities.

Parcours d’Éducation
Artistique et Culturelle (EAC) (Cultural and artistic education program) The Lyon Opera drew inspiration from the three pillars put in place by the EAC, to know, to do, to meet, in order to help as many people as possible in their local and community life. Every season, several EAC programs devised in accordance with the featured pieces allow children from primary, middle and high school as well as young inmates from the Établissement Pénitentiaire pour Mineurs du Rhône to discover music, literature, dance and voice works. Artistic fellowships also allow adult audience members to be in constant connection with the opera’s training programs.

Joint projects
Every year, the Opera fosters relationships based on joint creations to offer an experience of the performing arts world through joint work on an arts project. This season’s project is a collaboration between the Grandes voisines third space and the Opéra Underground. These projects revolve around locals, amateurs, novices – whether shy or headstrong – artists, companies, and tech crews, all writing a new story and collapsing the barriers between the stage and the audience in one fell swoop. Individual passions are expressed loud and clear while imaginary lines are blurred, and all that is left is the collective symphony of art.

Lyon Opera × Hospices Civils de Lyon
The Opera meets the hospital – patients, caregivers, families, medical staff
With a unique collaboration between the Lyon Opera and the Hospices Civils de Lyon, patients and the person accompanying them have access to a dedicated distribution channel, which makes filmed performances by the Lyon Opera available free of charge. This innovative partnership allows the Lyon Opera to extend its programmes to the 13 hospitals that make up the Hospices civils de Lyon network. Whatever their situation, patients are able to find respite from medical care by escaping into a world of music, dance and opera.
Beyond the shows, the collaboration includes an arts classes project created with medical teams for the patients. With the help of the Lyon Opera Ballet dancers, the project allows patients to take part in dance workshops on mobility and more generally on the motions of the body. The goal is to foster everyone’s creativity in an unrestricted way, to reinforce social contact, and to create numerous and daily artistic encounters.

Education projects
Primary and middle school programmes
Over 10,000 preschool to middle school students from the entire Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region benefit from a multidisciplinary programme specially designed for young audiences. The Éducation Nationale, artists and associate companies gather beforehand to help teachers prepare for performances with training sessions on the Opera’s crafts and repertoire.

High school and universities
Thanks to special prices and custom sessions tailored to help young people discover the Lyon Opera, teachers can plan units for their high school or university students in accordance with the syllabus. Each season, over 2,000 students discover the Opera and its shows in all their artistic diversity.
In collaboration with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, each season, the Lycéens et Apprentis au Spectacle program allows over 2,000 high schoolers to discover the Opera. Apart from attending performances, they have the opportunity to meet the artists and visit the house and design studios, and benefit from initiatives provided by other cultural institutions in Lyon.

Opera on the road
The Opera on the road was created to build bridges and make connections with several places and locals; from a Lyon arrondissement to a rural community; from a city high school to a social or social care facility, or city halls, or brand new cultural centres that have recently joined the local community. Each Opera on the road is grounds for outreach projects with schools, organizations and community centres. The projects revolve around discovering arts with shows and workshops (theatre, music, voice work).

Pôle de Ressources pour l’Éducation Artistique et Culturelle (PRÉAC) (Artistic and cultural education resources centre) Opéra et Expression vocales (Opera and Vocal Expression)
The PRÉAC Opéra et Expressions vocales is jointly conducted by the Délégations Académiques aux Arts et à la Culture of the Lyon, Grenoble and Clermont-Ferrand districts, the DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Lyon Opera. The PRÉAC provides training on opera and vocal work for everyone who is part of the EAC: teachers, artists and cultural operators. The goal is to give way to artistic projects and activities for young people. The two-year artistic and cultural education programs revolve around national lectures followed by activities throughout the region in collaboration with cultural organizations.