Every year, as we head home after another action-packed Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival, there’s something we look forward to: our artists’ feedback to us.

It’s a chance for us to celebrate our successes, and find out what our artists valued most about their experience. Here’s a few of our favourite comments from this year:

Why did you take part this year?

“It was the perfect festival for our project.”

“It is the only showcase for new small-scale opera work.”

“We had a new idea that we wanted to try out and present to an open-minded audience.”

Did you feel a sense of community with fellow artists in the festival?

“Yes – there was a good sense of solidarity.”

“Yes. I think that it is more and more connected from year to year.”

“Yes, you can feel it. A space for coexistence (the same place to sleep, eat and stay for all the artists) would be a great improvement.”

What has worked well about the festival for you?

“The supportive space to create and present, the open minded audience, being able to go to other shows cheaply, the photos and videos, technical, marketing, and production support.”

“It’s given me a new show, brought new friendships and broadened my creative outlook. I’m so pleased to have become involved.”

“The atmosphere of the festival was perfect for putting on such a personal work. That day will always feel very special to me.”

And a final gem sent to us after the festival:

“The performance of this piece was the biggest stepping stone to date for me as a composer and a human, so I wanted to say thank you for giving me this opportunity. I will remember and cherish it forever. I feel like everyone on the festival team was so friendly and we all felt very valued and looked after.”