Following a meeting on 3 March with the acting governor of Perm, Maxim Reshetnikov, David Chipperfield Architects has been invited to develop design proposals for a new free-standing building for the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre on the southern bank of the River Kama.
The existing opera house is one of the oldest and most important in Russia with historic and artistic ties to Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky and Sergey Diaghilev. Today it houses one of Russia's most prominent opera and ballet companies and the MusicAeterna orchestra and chorus, under the overall artistic leadership of Teodor Currentzis.
In 2010, the practice won an international competition for the refurbishment and extension of the historic opera house, pictured.