Bringing the audience and the works together
Coming together is an experience which allows all of us to leave our everyday selves behind for a while before returning bigger, disturbed, shocked or at the very least different in some way. Coming together also allows us to accept and face things that we are normally afraid of, and that includes the unknown as well as the new. We believe that each performance should carry the promise of a voyage outside ourselves. Coming face to face with a work of art is an emotional experience, a moment when we can feel the vibrations carried by the energy of live performance. Each performance is an opportunity to let go, to experience new emotions, the exhilaration of the ephemeral. An evening performance at the opera is a coming together of two powerful groups. On the audience side, you have a diverse group composed of hundreds of individual views directed towards a single stage. On the performance side, you have another group: artists coming together to perform a work, supported by teams of technicians and administrators. On both sides, men and women from different backgrounds join together for a few hours to produce a collective experience of a new "elsewhere". Everyone needs to feel welcome at the opera. Through our attitude and with the help of all our partners, we will extend our policy of welcoming all audiences, proposing ambitious, contemporary works that show our respect for all kinds of performance art and all kinds of repertoire, that encourage hybrids and experimentation, and that open up the stage to reveal missing stories and works.

Bringing a production company into line with modern values
Our opera house is above all a production company, a place of invention and creation where we come face to face, artistically speaking, with our modern world. New musical, dramatic or dance performances that are fully contemporary rely on our permanent creative teams (the orchestra, the chorus, the ballet, the children’s choir and the studio) that are part of the opera and the region, thanks to the commitments of our government financiers and the support of our partners. These men and women, artists and technicians, are essential for our creativity and our relevance. For our creativity because they are talented and diverse, with the means necessary for invention rather than simple repetition. For our relevance because they are immersed in an inspiring community with multiple talents that allow the invention of a new artistic vocabulary. At the opera house, we take a very diverse approach to creativity. We have our repertoire, from which we draw works that make sense to a contemporary audience, interpreted by modern artists who will reveal the insights that help us to read and understand our world. And we also have new works, pieces that have yet to be created, as new ways of looking at our time, taking care to ensure the diversity of artistic languages and origins and revealing missing narratives.
We want to welcome and support universal artistic expression that draws from global diversity to inspire across borders and start a conversation with audiences, makers and venues around the world.
Our company will be careful to consider not only established artists, but also to give the women and men of the new generation of composers, directors, producers and choreographers the opportunity to work in Lyon alongside the big names of today. We will be there for the new creative generations.
We will give everyone the opportunity to showcase their skills and commitment. While respecting their individuality and background, we will ensure the well-being and professional development of all those who contribute to the Opera's activity. Being on the cutting edge also means keeping a close eye on the necessary changes in the creative professions. For a responsible production company that means being careful with our resources and committed to the invention and sharing of new techniques.

Opera in the community
We will be part of the cultural intensity that runs through the entire city, by being a sensitive and creative presence in the daily lives of residents of all ages. The urban landscape will thus be transformed into an imaginary one, enabling everyone to go beyond their own limits. The cultural intensity will come from a new solidarity among those who are already active in the area, in all their diversity - cultural, social, environmental, legal, health, educational, user and resident associations. We will listen to them. We are open to their initiatives, we recognise their expertise and know-how, and are convinced that we can complement each other to develop joint cultural, artistic and educational initiatives for all target groups.
Together, we will create local cultural projects throughout the region, as well as easy and regular access to an opera house capable of extending its promises of discovery and learning beyond its walls. With our partners, we will explore all the territories, both geographical and virtual, that people travel through every day. In each of these spaces, we will work with our allies to invent new forms of access to works of art, adapted to their environment.
We believe in shared creation: we will invite residents to engage in genuine artistic projects, with the same high standards and the same ambition as those guiding our entire artistic vision.
In the heart of the city, surrounded by friends, partners and patrons, the opera house will be a place where ideas and knowledge can circulate, a meeting place for transmission and training. Whether they are simple amateurs, just curious or artists in the making, everyone will be able to learn about the creative professions.

As Jean Dasté said, we want to "have the whole city as an audience". The opera is a public theatre, open to all. A theatre that inspires and shines like a bright light throughout the city and the world. It is up to you, with us, to fill it, to inhabit it and to bring it to life.

Richard Brunel
CEO and Artistic Director of the Lyon National Opera

As of Jan. 1, 2022

Qualified Members:
Chairman Remy Weber
Vice-Chair Sylvie Hubac
Treasurer Paul-Henry Watine
Secretary Sophia Aram, Raymond Soubie

Ex-officio members:
For the state Pascal Mailhos
For the City of Lyon Nathalie Perrin-Gilbert, Jacques Bonniel
For the Greater Lyon Area Cedric Van Styvendael
For the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region Sophie Rotkopf