SWAP’ra (Supporting Women and Parents in Opera) was established in 2018 to redress unconscious gender bias and to provide a supportive platform to effect positive change for women and parents in opera. We aim to be a catalyst for change by opening a significant dialogue with artists and administrators at both grassroots and organisational level.

SUPPORTING WOMEN...

The under-representation of women in senior leadership roles - both creatively and administratively - is significant. Our purpose is to explore the reasons for this imbalance and to find ways to champion and generate more opportunities for women in these roles.

...AND PARENTS

We aim to dismantle outdated attitudes towards the compatibility of parenthood and a career by:

Celebrating the great many role model opera parents managing to do both
Working with opera companies to find ways of updating their working practices to make a career in opera more accessible for people with families and dependants (men and women)

...Learn More

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Inspiration

Click here for featured interviews with women and parents who are making their mark as some of the most successful artists of their generation.

Read our interviews

Support

We want to hear your stories, whether you have advice or suggestions to share, challenges you've faced or companies you wish to applaud.

Tell us your stories

SWAP'ra Gala

On July 31st, 2018, we held our inaugural concert at Opera Holland Park. This concert showcased and celebrated the incredible wealth of female talent in our industry. Read some of the reviews and feedback here.

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The ultimate aim is to foster an environment in which a female CEO, Music Director, Artistic Director, Conductor, Composer or Librettist is no longer noteworthy