Opera (Training (Research)) During Lockdown

In this chapter, we depict how student performers experienced the staging of an opera under COVID-19 safety measures. These measures not only affected the rehearsal procedures but also the staging itself. During the staging of an adaptation of Gioachino Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims in October 2020 by the University of British Columbia Opera program, which is described here as an example, rather than having 65 singers on stage, as previously planned, staging was adapted to only allow a maximum of 15 singers on stage, who kept a 3 m distance while singing with masks. We further discuss the altered performance delivery mode of online streaming which was trialed during this performance and an accompanying psychological research project collecting data on opera trainees’ heart rate variability during opera performance. Together, the chapter provides a snapshot of the possibilities and constraints of opera training and research on opera training under lockdown measures.