Expanding and diversifying audiences through accessibility is possible: at the Macerata Opera Festival, we have been doing it since 2009. All operas are accessible to blind and visually impaired audiences through audio descriptions and audio introductions, available in both Italian and English. In addition, each opera is accompanied by inclusive, participatory and multisensory experiences, including activities in Italian Sign Language (LIS) and guided by young people with sensory disabilities.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences can also benefit from an assisted listening service, as well as Italian and English surtitles for all Festival performances.

The excellence of InclusivOpera, coordinated since 2009 by Professor Elena Di Giovanni (University of Macerata), has been recognised nationally through the awarding of the Italian “Inclusione 3.0” Prize in 2018.

The project has also been identified as a Best Practice within the European project REACH (RE-designing Access to Cultural Heritage), which promotes broader participation in the preservation, reuse and management of European cultural heritage.

In 2021, a doctoral research programme co-funded by the Associazione Arena Sferisterio was launched under the title:

“Inclusive Theatres: Analysing Inclusion Strategies and Organisational Competencies in the Performing Arts for the Benefit of Communities and Territories.”

Over the years, InclusivOpera services have engaged an average of around 400 participants annually, ranging in age from 5 to 85 years old and coming from all over Italy.

OUR TEAM

Elena Di Giovanni
InclusivOpera Project Coordinator

Marco Luchetti
InclusivOpera Coordination Support

ITALIAN AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
Ente Nazionale Sordi (Macerata, Italy); Museo Statale Tattile Omero (Ancona, Italy); Unione Italiana Ciechi e Ipovedenti (Sezione di Macerata);  Università degli Studi di Macerata (Macerata, Italy); University of Pittsburgh (USA)

RESEARCH OUTPUTS

Dall’accessibilità all’inclusione | Elena Di Giovanni | TEDxMacerata

Di Giovanni, E., Raffi, F., 2022, Inclusive theatre-making: translation, accessibility and beyond Special Issue di INTRALINEA ON LINE TRANSLATION JOURNAL; 1; Bologna, Dipartimento di Interpretazione e Traduzione, Università di Bologna; pp. 1 – 5 (ISSN: 1827-000X)

Di Giovanni, E., Raffi, F., 2022 “Inclusive Theatres as Boosters of Well-being: Concepts and practices.” in JOURNAL OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION; 1; London, ESIST; pp. 166 – 185 (ISSN: 2617-9148).

Di Giovanni, E., Luchetti, M., Raffi, F., Turrini, A., 2022. “Exploring how accessible cultural practices impact on community development: The case of InclusivOpera at the Macerata Opera Festival in Italy.” in LOCAL DEVELOPMENT & SOCIETY; 1; Oxford, Routledge Taylor & Francis; pp. 1 – 15 (ISSN: 2688-3600).

Di Giovanni, Elena, 2021. “Oltre l’accessibilità. I teatri inclusivi.” in LINGUE E LINGUAGGI; 43; Lecce, Università del Salento, Coordinamento SIBA; pp. 15 – 31 (ISSN: 2239-0359).

Di Giovanni, E., Raffi, F., 2021. “Intersemiotic transcreation: the life and afterlife of Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth.” in OPEN JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES; 7; Mantova, Universitas Studiorum; pp. 133 – 155 (ISSN: 2612-6966).

Raffi, F., 2021 “La valutazione dell’esperienza del pubblico. Accessibilità e studi di ricezione al Macerata Opera Festival.” in LINGUE E LINGUAGGI; 43; Lecce, Università del Salento; pp. 33 – 64 (ISSN: 2239-0367)

Di Giovanni, Elena, 2018. “Audio Description for Live Performances and Audience Participation.” in THE JOURNAL OF SPECIALISED TRANSLATION; 29; Londra, London: London Metropolitan University; pp. 189 – 211 (ISSN: 1740-357X).

DI Giovanni, Elena, 2018. “Participatory accessibility: Creating audio description with blind and non-blind children.” in JOURNAL OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION; 1; London, ESIST; pp. 155 – 169 (ISSN: 2617-9148).

InclusivOpera returns this year with a rich programme of events and activities: discover what’s new!

Once again this year, InclusivOpera brings a full lineup of events.

On the occasion of the 60th season of the Macerata Opera Festival many appointments with InclusivOpera!

Our 2023 inclusive programme is underway, with a number of events and activities for all ages and (dis)abilities.

Find out more about our 2022 inclusive programme!

The “Inclusive Guides” project, aimed at young people with visual and hearing sensory impairment, is now official. Our inclusive tours become ‘multisensory’ experiences to further explore the many ways in which opera interacts with all our senses. What’s more, young people and adults with mild cognitive impairment can now participate in a series of workshops and inclusive activities to enjoy the opera experience.

Our inclusive tours now include Musei Civici di Palazzo Buonaccorsi thanks to the “Ti racconto un’opera inclusiva” program.

A new inclusive tour is offered to deaf and hard of hearing audiences to experience the sounds and noises related to an opera performance. Our accessible tours are now “inclusive and participatory” tours, fully guided by blind and visually impaired, deaf and hard of hearing young people.

Accessibility workshops for blind and deaf children; audio descriptions are streamed in real-time on users’ smartphones and deaf and hard-of-hearing audience members can optimise intelligibility and sound quality thanks to the new Sennheiser’s MobileConnect technology (Sennheiser Streaming Technologies).

Surtitles and AD are in Italian and English. Moreover, in partnership with Ente Nazionale Sordi Macerata (Macerata Association for Deaf people), a sign-language-interpreted tour guides the hearing impaired through the theatre, the stage, and its backstage areas.

A new worthy addition: the translated English version of the surtitles and the AD will be supplied for all opera performances. It’s also possible to listen previously the AD on our website.

Partnership with Museo Tattile Statale Omero (Ancona)

Touch tours take place before the audio described performance for all visitors, in particular for the blind and visually impaired. Visitors can touch various specially-made models and other tactile objects in order to gain a special awareness of the theatre, its history, and the operas which will be performed. Our partnerships with “Ente Nazionale Sordi – Sezione di Macerata” and “Unione Italiana Ciechi e Ipovedenti – Sezione di Macerata” is now official. 

The Macerata Opera Festival launches an ambitious and unique accessibility project with self-funded AD for 2 operas.
Surtitles are projected onto the big wall of the Arena Sferisterio, during all opera performances so that not only people with a hearing impairment but also the whole audience can easily follow the librettos.