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World Opera Lab Roadshow 2026
Details
30 June 2026
Amsterdam / Netherlands
Platform Members, Roadshow
Sibyls of the City: Imagining the Future Together
World Opera Lab brought artists and residents of Amsterdam’s Staatsliedenbuurt together for Sibyls of the City, a community opera exploring the future of the neighbourhood through music, local stories and fortune-telling traditions from cultures around the world.
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Created by director and local resident Miranda Lakerveld together with neighbourhood residents, the project was developed around the 100th anniversary of the Nassaukerk, a central meeting place in the Staatsliedenbuurt.
Sibyls of the City draws inspiration from traditions used to imagine and predict the future, including the ancient Greek Sibyls, the Chinese I Ching, religious prophecies and tarot. These traditions are interwoven with personal predictions from local residents, creating a collective reflection on the future of their neighbourhood.
Music plays a central role in bringing these different perspectives together. The medieval Spanish Canto de la Sibila is combined with musical traditions from Mexico, the Middle East, West Africa and Suriname, reflecting the diversity of influences within the project.
The wider programme also included the Coffee Grounds Reading neighbourhood festival on 13 June. World Opera Lab musicians, local entrepreneurs, residents, seers and oracles transformed different locations across the neighbourhood into spaces for encounters, music and collective imagination.
By bringing professional artists and local residents into the same creative process, Sibyls of the City uses community opera as a way to explore belonging, cultural traditions and shared visions of what the future might hold.
World Opera Lab
Discover more about World Opera Lab to discover images, videos and updates from Sibyls of the City and its activities across Amsterdam’s Staatsliedenbuurt.
