Glyndebourne launches national art competition in search of the UK’s young, emerging artists

Associated media

Glyndebourne has launched its first national art competition inviting talented and aspiring young artists from across the UK to design the cover of its 2013 Tour Programme. The winning artist will see their artwork grace the cover of 10,000 copies of the Glyndebourne Tour Programme and be exhibited at Glyndebourne and participating gallery spaces this autumn.

Glyndebourne is inviting young and emerging artists to submit artwork inspired by one of the three operas in the 2013 Tour repertoire; Hänsel and Gretel, L’elisir d’amore and The Rape of Lucretia. The three operas will be performed at seven venues across the country from October to December.

The Glyndebourne Tour Programme is the sister publication of the Glyndebourne Festival Programme, a collector’s item that is well-known for its contemporary front covers. Recent cover artists include Grayson Perry, David Hockney and Anish Kapoor.

Since the advent of the Tour in 1968, Glyndebourne has sought to broaden the reach of opera, bringing the art form to new audiences every autumn as it takes three productions on the road. The inaugural Glyndebourne Tour Programme cover competition will extend the reach of opera once again and act as an opportunity to champion young and emerging artistic talent of a different kind.

The winning artist will be announced in July 2013 following the decision of a specially convened panel of judges. The successful artist will have the opportunity to work closely with Glyndebourne as the Tour Programme is designed around the winning artwork.

Glyndebourne’s Executive Chairman Gus Christie is curator of the Glyndebourne Festival art exhibition. He is passionate about developing new and emerging artists and bringing their work to the fore.

Gus Christie said:

Glyndebourne is looking for talented and aspiring artists from across the UK to submit innovative and creative designs that celebrate Glyndebourne’s annual Tour.  We have been touring our operas across the country since 1968, in part as a way of championing emerging operatic talent.  We hope the 2013 Tour Programme cover competition will complement this and enable emerging artists to showcase their talent by creating inspirational cover art based on one of the three productions in this year’s Tour.

Young artists are invited to submit paintings, drawings, original prints, mixed media, photography and digital pieces for the competition. Pieces must work on two levels – as the Glyndebourne Tour Programme cover and as an exhibition piece hung for display.

The competition is free to enter and is open to anyone aged 18 – 30 (entrants must be aged above 18 and under 30 on 30 June 2013).

For full entry criteria and online registration go to glyndebourne.com/tourart