- A pre-event notice will be sent on August 20 (Thu.) to the email address provided at the time of registration. Please ensure your email address is entered correctly and keep an eye on your inbox for further updates.
- Individual workshop sessions are not available for separate registration. If you need to miss a session, please inform the organizer in advance. No refunds will be provided.
- For refund requests, participants must contact the organizer directly via email . Requests must be submitted at least 10 days before the event date, based on the email timestamp. A 10% handling fee will be deducted from the registration fee for cancellations. Late requests will not be accepted.
- Food and beverages are not permitted in the workshop's venue, except for water.
- This event is not eligible for Weiwuying membership point accumulation.
- Each account may register for one participant only. Auditing or accompanying guests are not permitted.
- The organizer reserves the right to make changes to the event. For further inquiries, please email or call Ms. Lee at learning@npac-weiwuying.org or +886-7-262-6423
- Portions of the workshop will be conducted in Mandarin without English interpretation. Participants are therefore encouraged to have a basic understanding of Mandarin.
[Creative Learning Workshop] 2026 Discover Opera - Il trovatore
Bringing together an opera singer, stage director, production coordinator, stage designer, and costume designer, this Creative Learning Workshop offers a rare behind-the-scenes look into the making of Verdi's Il trovatore — one of opera's most passionate and enduring masterpieces.
Through artist talks, discussions, and live rehearsal observation, participants will explore how Il trovatore is transformed from score and text into a powerful theatrical experience. From vocal interpretation and stage direction to spatial design and costume creation, the workshop reveals the many layers of collaboration behind an opera production. Participants will also have the opportunity to step into the rehearsal room and witness firsthand how opera takes shape through artistic exchange, experimentation, and refinement.
Through this workshop, participants will gain deeper insight into the creative process behind Il trovatore while developing a greater appreciation for opera as a collaborative and interdisciplinary art form.
highlight of the workshop
✦ Gain exclusive access to the rehearsal room and witness opera come to life through international creative collaboration
✦ Learn from a diverse group of speakers, ranging from directors, designers, and theatre professionals behind the making of a grand opera production
✦ Dive into the passion and drama of Il trovatore through music and character exploration led by renowned artists
Workshop Information
Date & Time: Saturday, August 22, 10:00–18:00
Venue: Rehearsal Room, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
Capacity: 25 participants
Who Can Join: Open to anyone interested in opera production, stage design, rehearsal processes, and the backstage spaces, as well as those who would like to learn more about Il trovatore. Recommended for ages 16 and above.
| Time | Topic |
10:00-11:30 | A Musical Journey Through Il Trovatore As one of Verdi's three great middle-period masterpieces, Il Trovatore is renowned for its highly dramatic musical language and intricately intertwined character destinies. Soprano Chueh-Yu Lai will guide participants through the opera with a lighthearted yet nuanced approach, drawing from her experience as a performer to help audiences listen to and experience the emotions and fates embodied in the singing. |
11:45-12:30 Production Coordinator | Wendy Hung | The Making of Il Trovatore: Production of an Opera and Behind-the-Scenes Challenges In this session, Wendy will break down the production process of the Il Trovatore from her perspective, sharing the challenges and stories she encountered when bridging the gap between artistic, technical, and administrative needs, guiding the participants through the journey of how an opera is brought to life. |
| 12:30-13:30 | Lunch Break ※Lunch will be provided, cost is included the registration fee. |
13:30-15:00 Stage Director | Pier Francesco Maestrini | Il Trovatore: A Sneak Peek into the Rehearsal Process 13:30 - 14:00 Director's Introduction 14:00 - 15:00 Rehearsal observation Step into the rehearsal room alongside the stage director of Il trovatore, Pier Francesco Maestrini! Maestrini will offer a brief overview of his rehearsal process in this session, revealing how he shapes characters and directs stage action in collaboration with the cast and production team. Participants will then observe the rehearsal in action, gaining a rare, close-up glimpse into how the opera is brought to life through continuous exploration and refinement. ※Workshop delivered in English with consecutive interpretation in Mandarin |
15:15-16:30 Set Designer | Nicolas Boni | Building the Foundation: The Set Design of Il trovatore In this session, set designer Nicolas Boni will share how he and his team set the stage for Il trovatore. Boni will unpack how the team extracts inspiration from the opera's story and music, and translates these ideas into a physical stage environment, revealing how the set becomes an integral part of the storytelling of the opera. ※Workshop delivered in English with consecutive interpretation in Mandarin |
16:45-18:00 Assistant to Wardrobe Supervisor | Tzu En Huang (Anne) | Character Creation Through Costume Design in Il Trovatore In this session, Tzu-En will share the design sketches and inspirations behind the production, guiding participants through the construction of the characters in Il Trovatore. The session will explore how fabric choices and silhouette language respond to each character's identity and the historical setting of the story, revealing layer by layer how opera costumes help bring characters to life on stage. |
Registration
Registration Deadline: August 12 (Wed.), 23:59
※ Please complete payment by the deadline indicated in the registration system. Registrations not paid by the deadline will be automatically cancelled.
Workshop Fee: NT$3,200 per person
(Weiwuying members are eligible for a discounted rate of NT$2,880 per person.)
※ Lunch is included.
Facilitators' Bio
Chueh-Yu LAI
 |
Chueh-Yu Lai (Soprano) was born in Taiwan; she obtained a DMA degree at National Taiwan Normal University, a Master degree at the Royal College of Music in London, studying with Amanda Roocroft, Rosa Mannion, generously supported by a Charles Branchini Award. A BMus Degree from National Taiwan Normal University in Taiwan, studying with Ching-Mei Lee and Irene Young.
Operatic engagements include Belinda in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, Lisa in Lehár's Das Land des Lächelns, Sophie's understudy in Strauss's der Rosenkavalier, Musetta in Puccini's La Bohème, Noémi in Massenet's Cendrillion, Yniold in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Adele in J. Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Tebaldo in Verdi's Don Carlo, Berta in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Gretel in Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, Frasquita in Bizet; Carmen, Annina in Verdi's La Traviata, Despina in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, The Princess in Respighi's la bella dormente nel bosco, Queen of the night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. And the semi choir in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Solo engagements include soprano solo in Mozart's Krönungsmesse and Great Mass in C minor, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and Poulenc's Gloria.
Wendy Hung
 |
Currently serving as a Production Coordinator at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), Wendy graduated from the Department of Theatre Arts at Chinese Culture University. Her journey into theatre production began during her university years, and she has since participated in and produced more than 30 productions of varying scales, including plays and musicals.
Through countless challenges and breakthroughs along the way, she has developed a love-hate relationship with theatre production that is difficult to put into words. Wendy hopes that more people will embark on their own journey into theatre production and experience its sweet chaos.
Pier Francesco MAESTRINI
 |
Born in Florence, Pier Francesco Maestrini began his career in 1993 with Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Tokyo's Bunkamura Orchard Hall. Since then, he has directed around 200 opera productions worldwide, with a particular focus on the interaction between live performance and virtual sets or animation. A notable example of this approach is his production of Respighi's La Campana Sommersa for Teatro Lirico di Cagliari (2016), later revived at Lincoln Center. He has also been active at several universities, where his teaching has led to staged productions, including Orphée aux Enfers (2007) at Yale University (USA), La Sonnambula (2000/2001) at Showa University (Japan), and Le Nozze di Figaro (2020) at Shanghai University (China).
Maestrini's recent productions include La Fille du Régiment for Theater Lübeck, Le Villi for Teatro Regio Torino, and Tosca for the Slovene National Theatre Maribor (2023). His Trittico from Teatro Comunale Bologna (2024) has been performed in Teatro Verdi in Trieste, in Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and Theater Kiel in 2025. Also his Giordano's Andrea Chénier production that premiered in Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2022) was performed in Opera Montecarlo (2024) and will be revived in Theatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile this summer. In 2026 Maestrini prepared six new production (Lakme, Slovene National Opera; Trovatore, Teatro Verdi Salerno; Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi, Makedonian National Opera; Trovatore, Kaohsiung Opera; Carmen, Croatian National Theatre, die Fledermaus, Slovene National Opera).
Nicolas BONI
 |
He holds a PhD in Art History and a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the National University of Rosario, where he also studied Music.
For over twenty-five years, he has enjoyed a renowned international career as a set designer in various theaters in Europe, the United States, China, Taiwan, and Latin America. He has designed sets for more than seventy productions,including operas, ballets, zarzuelas, and musicals; his productions have received numerous awards from critics.
Among his most recent designs are Andrea Chénier for the Monte Carlo Opera, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, and the Nice Opera; Manon Lescaut and Lakmé for the Slovenian National Opera; the RASA Ballet for the Royal Opera of Flanders; and Madama Butterfly for the Hong Kong Opera. He also premiered Moses in Egypt for the Teatro Comunale in Modena and the musical The Sound of Music in Rio de Janeiro and São
Paulo.
In 2024, singer Mon Laferte commissioned him to design the set for the world tour of her album Autopoiética, which began at Madison Square Garden in New York and continued at other renowned Latin American concert halls such as the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City and the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires.
In 2025, he premiered Il trittico at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, and participated in the celebrated Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, designing the videos for L'italiana in Algiers, which garnered significant critical and public acclaim.
Tzu En Huang (Anne)
 |
Tzu En Huang received her degree from the Department of Theatre Design at Taipei National University of the Arts with a specialization in costume design, and she currently works as an Assistant Costume Designer at KA&G Fashion.make-up Co.,Ltd.
Huang has participated in numerous opera, theatre, and Taiwanese opera productions, including the Weiwuying flagship operas Lohengrin and Manon Lescaut, as well as the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra productions of La Bohème, Rigoletto, and Tosca. Her production credits also include: The Half Mile of The Great Wall by Ping-Fong Acting Troupe, Beyond the River of Oblivion by Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe, Echoes of Red Tides : The Lady of Monga by Subsidiary Troupe of Ming Hwa Yuan-the Ri Theatrical Troupe, and productions of Yi-Shin Taiwanese Opera Troupe including To Brave,Be Myself , Déjà vu, and The Plague of Revenge.
Program
9/3(Thu)-9/6(Sun)
[Creative Learning Workshop] 2026 Discover Opera - Il trovatore
Bringing together an opera singer, stage director, production coordinator, stage designer, and costume designer, this Creative Learning Workshop offers a rare behind-the-scenes look into the making of Verdi's Il trovatore — one of opera's most passionate and enduring masterpieces.
Through artist talks, discussions, and live rehearsal observation, participants will explore how Il trovatore is transformed from score and text into a powerful theatrical experience. From vocal interpretation and stage direction to spatial design and costume creation, the workshop reveals the many layers of collaboration behind an opera production. Participants will also have the opportunity to step into the rehearsal room and witness firsthand how opera takes shape through artistic exchange, experimentation, and refinement.
Through this workshop, participants will gain deeper insight into the creative process behind Il trovatore while developing a greater appreciation for opera as a collaborative and interdisciplinary art form.
highlight of the workshop
✦ Gain exclusive access to the rehearsal room and witness opera come to life through international creative collaboration
✦ Learn from a diverse group of speakers, ranging from directors, designers, and theatre professionals behind the making of a grand opera production
✦ Dive into the passion and drama of Il trovatore through music and character exploration led by renowned artists
Workshop Information
Date & Time: Saturday, August 22, 10:00–18:00
Venue: Rehearsal Room, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
Capacity: 25 participants
Who Can Join: Open to anyone interested in opera production, stage design, rehearsal processes, and the backstage spaces, as well as those who would like to learn more about Il trovatore. Recommended for ages 16 and above.
| Time | Topic |
10:00-11:30 | A Musical Journey Through Il Trovatore As one of Verdi's three great middle-period masterpieces, Il Trovatore is renowned for its highly dramatic musical language and intricately intertwined character destinies. Soprano Chueh-Yu Lai will guide participants through the opera with a lighthearted yet nuanced approach, drawing from her experience as a performer to help audiences listen to and experience the emotions and fates embodied in the singing. |
11:45-12:30 Production Coordinator | Wendy Hung | The Making of Il Trovatore: Production of an Opera and Behind-the-Scenes Challenges In this session, Wendy will break down the production process of the Il Trovatore from her perspective, sharing the challenges and stories she encountered when bridging the gap between artistic, technical, and administrative needs, guiding the participants through the journey of how an opera is brought to life. |
| 12:30-13:30 | Lunch Break ※Lunch will be provided, cost is included the registration fee. |
13:30-15:00 Stage Director | Pier Francesco Maestrini | Il Trovatore: A Sneak Peek into the Rehearsal Process 13:30 - 14:00 Director's Introduction 14:00 - 15:00 Rehearsal observation Step into the rehearsal room alongside the stage director of Il trovatore, Pier Francesco Maestrini! Maestrini will offer a brief overview of his rehearsal process in this session, revealing how he shapes characters and directs stage action in collaboration with the cast and production team. Participants will then observe the rehearsal in action, gaining a rare, close-up glimpse into how the opera is brought to life through continuous exploration and refinement. ※Workshop delivered in English with consecutive interpretation in Mandarin |
15:15-16:30 Set Designer | Nicolas Boni | Building the Foundation: The Set Design of Il trovatore In this session, set designer Nicolas Boni will share how he and his team set the stage for Il trovatore. Boni will unpack how the team extracts inspiration from the opera's story and music, and translates these ideas into a physical stage environment, revealing how the set becomes an integral part of the storytelling of the opera. ※Workshop delivered in English with consecutive interpretation in Mandarin |
16:45-18:00 Assistant to Wardrobe Supervisor | Tzu En Huang (Anne) | Character Creation Through Costume Design in Il Trovatore In this session, Tzu-En will share the design sketches and inspirations behind the production, guiding participants through the construction of the characters in Il Trovatore. The session will explore how fabric choices and silhouette language respond to each character's identity and the historical setting of the story, revealing layer by layer how opera costumes help bring characters to life on stage. |
Registration
Registration Deadline: August 12 (Wed.), 23:59
※ Please complete payment by the deadline indicated in the registration system. Registrations not paid by the deadline will be automatically cancelled.
Workshop Fee: NT$3,200 per person
(Weiwuying members are eligible for a discounted rate of NT$2,880 per person.)
※ Lunch is included.
Facilitators' Bio
Chueh-Yu LAI
|
Chueh-Yu Lai (Soprano) was born in Taiwan; she obtained a DMA degree at National Taiwan Normal University, a Master degree at the Royal College of Music in London, studying with Amanda Roocroft, Rosa Mannion, generously supported by a Charles Branchini Award. A BMus Degree from National Taiwan Normal University in Taiwan, studying with Ching-Mei Lee and Irene Young.
Operatic engagements include Belinda in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, Lisa in Lehár's Das Land des Lächelns, Sophie's understudy in Strauss's der Rosenkavalier, Musetta in Puccini's La Bohème, Noémi in Massenet's Cendrillion, Yniold in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Adele in J. Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Tebaldo in Verdi's Don Carlo, Berta in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Gretel in Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, Frasquita in Bizet; Carmen, Annina in Verdi's La Traviata, Despina in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, The Princess in Respighi's la bella dormente nel bosco, Queen of the night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. And the semi choir in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Solo engagements include soprano solo in Mozart's Krönungsmesse and Great Mass in C minor, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and Poulenc's Gloria.
Wendy Hung
|
Currently serving as a Production Coordinator at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), Wendy graduated from the Department of Theatre Arts at Chinese Culture University. Her journey into theatre production began during her university years, and she has since participated in and produced more than 30 productions of varying scales, including plays and musicals.
Through countless challenges and breakthroughs along the way, she has developed a love-hate relationship with theatre production that is difficult to put into words. Wendy hopes that more people will embark on their own journey into theatre production and experience its sweet chaos.
Pier Francesco MAESTRINI
|
Born in Florence, Pier Francesco Maestrini began his career in 1993 with Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Tokyo's Bunkamura Orchard Hall. Since then, he has directed around 200 opera productions worldwide, with a particular focus on the interaction between live performance and virtual sets or animation. A notable example of this approach is his production of Respighi's La Campana Sommersa for Teatro Lirico di Cagliari (2016), later revived at Lincoln Center. He has also been active at several universities, where his teaching has led to staged productions, including Orphée aux Enfers (2007) at Yale University (USA), La Sonnambula (2000/2001) at Showa University (Japan), and Le Nozze di Figaro (2020) at Shanghai University (China).
Maestrini's recent productions include La Fille du Régiment for Theater Lübeck, Le Villi for Teatro Regio Torino, and Tosca for the Slovene National Theatre Maribor (2023). His Trittico from Teatro Comunale Bologna (2024) has been performed in Teatro Verdi in Trieste, in Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and Theater Kiel in 2025. Also his Giordano's Andrea Chénier production that premiered in Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2022) was performed in Opera Montecarlo (2024) and will be revived in Theatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile this summer. In 2026 Maestrini prepared six new production (Lakme, Slovene National Opera; Trovatore, Teatro Verdi Salerno; Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi, Makedonian National Opera; Trovatore, Kaohsiung Opera; Carmen, Croatian National Theatre, die Fledermaus, Slovene National Opera).
Nicolas BONI
|
He holds a PhD in Art History and a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the National University of Rosario, where he also studied Music.
For over twenty-five years, he has enjoyed a renowned international career as a set designer in various theaters in Europe, the United States, China, Taiwan, and Latin America. He has designed sets for more than seventy productions,including operas, ballets, zarzuelas, and musicals; his productions have received numerous awards from critics.
Among his most recent designs are Andrea Chénier for the Monte Carlo Opera, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, and the Nice Opera; Manon Lescaut and Lakmé for the Slovenian National Opera; the RASA Ballet for the Royal Opera of Flanders; and Madama Butterfly for the Hong Kong Opera. He also premiered Moses in Egypt for the Teatro Comunale in Modena and the musical The Sound of Music in Rio de Janeiro and São
Paulo.
In 2024, singer Mon Laferte commissioned him to design the set for the world tour of her album Autopoiética, which began at Madison Square Garden in New York and continued at other renowned Latin American concert halls such as the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City and the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires.
In 2025, he premiered Il trittico at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, and participated in the celebrated Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, designing the videos for L'italiana in Algiers, which garnered significant critical and public acclaim.
Tzu En Huang (Anne)
|
Tzu En Huang received her degree from the Department of Theatre Design at Taipei National University of the Arts with a specialization in costume design, and she currently works as an Assistant Costume Designer at KA&G Fashion.make-up Co.,Ltd.
Huang has participated in numerous opera, theatre, and Taiwanese opera productions, including the Weiwuying flagship operas Lohengrin and Manon Lescaut, as well as the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra productions of La Bohème, Rigoletto, and Tosca. Her production credits also include: The Half Mile of The Great Wall by Ping-Fong Acting Troupe, Beyond the River of Oblivion by Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe, Echoes of Red Tides : The Lady of Monga by Subsidiary Troupe of Ming Hwa Yuan-the Ri Theatrical Troupe, and productions of Yi-Shin Taiwanese Opera Troupe including To Brave,Be Myself , Déjà vu, and The Plague of Revenge.
Program
9/3(Thu)-9/6(Sun)
- A pre-event notice will be sent on August 20 (Thu.) to the email address provided at the time of registration. Please ensure your email address is entered correctly and keep an eye on your inbox for further updates.
- Individual workshop sessions are not available for separate registration. If you need to miss a session, please inform the organizer in advance. No refunds will be provided.
- For refund requests, participants must contact the organizer directly via email . Requests must be submitted at least 10 days before the event date, based on the email timestamp. A 10% handling fee will be deducted from the registration fee for cancellations. Late requests will not be accepted.
- Food and beverages are not permitted in the workshop's venue, except for water.
- This event is not eligible for Weiwuying membership point accumulation.
- Each account may register for one participant only. Auditing or accompanying guests are not permitted.
- The organizer reserves the right to make changes to the event. For further inquiries, please email or call Ms. Lee at learning@npac-weiwuying.org or +886-7-262-6423
- Portions of the workshop will be conducted in Mandarin without English interpretation. Participants are therefore encouraged to have a basic understanding of Mandarin.
