Coffee-break interview: Elif Karlidag
In our school newsletters we will be hearing from different freelancers and teachers to find out a little bit more about them and their experiences with ENO Engage.
This coming year, schools participating in Finish This… 2025/26 will have the choice of two composition stimulus pieces to respond to: Blue, Red, Yellow… by Omar Shahryar and Ruth Mariner, and a newly commissioned piece, Plant This Seed by Elif Karlidag. Booking for Finish This… 2025-26 is now open! Please visit our booking page to secure your place.
Elif Karlidag, Composer of Plant This Seed spoke to us about her inspiration behind the piece, and the process of creating it, along with Librettist Hazel Gould.
Hi Elif! Could you tell us a little about yourself and your connection to the work of ENO Engage?
I am a Turkish/British composer specialising in interdisciplinary works that amplify marginalised voices. My music blends traditional and unconventional instruments, electronics, and multimedia to explore themes of identity, marginalisation, and cultural narratives. I often incorporate graphic notation and experiment with unconventional approaches to staging, and I also compose music for film
How did you become involved with Finish This…?
When I saw the call for the new Finish This… commission, I immediately fell in love. It encapsulates everything I’m passionate about: opera, animation, and a collaborative operatic piece that is to be finished by children. It truly is a special project that resonates with me.
Can you tell us a bit about this new composition, Plant This Seed?
Plant This Seed is a response to our shared concern about climate change. While some view climate change as a distant future problem, it is already impacting our world today. As an artist, I find that contemporary issues invariably shape my work, and I wanted to create a piece that not only highlights this crucial issue but also gives children the freedom to imagine, create, and believe that we can overcome challenges together. The composition is structured in three scenes representing the past, present, and future.
The first scene portrays a harmonious past with pastoral, soothing music featuring a lovely melody introduced by woodwinds and the beautiful ENO Chorus. The second scene reflects a world out of balance, using dissonant, rhythmic patterns to capture the disruptive influence of modern technology. The final scene is a bold, rich finale that invites everyone to “plant a seed” as a call to action to support our environment and ourselves.
To celebrate diversity and inclusivity, I incorporated instruments from around the world—a Biwa from Japan, a Fujara from Slovakia, and a Tabla from India. I’m especially proud that ENO managed to find a Biwa player in the UK, which is quite an achievement given their rarity!
Plant This Seed was written in collaboration with Librettist Hazel Gould. Can you tell us a bit about your process of writing the piece together?
Working with Hazel has been an absolute delight. She is an amazing collaborator whose sensitivity to children’s feelings has truly elevated the project. Our creative process was organic, with moments where the music and lyrics merged in unexpected ways that kept me excited throughout the process. I’ve always admired her work, and her input has added a fresh dimension to the piece. I must also acknowledge ENO’s Head of Music Martin Fitzpatrick’s significant contribution—his support really helped elevate the overall work.
Finish This… involves artists and teachers working together to create an opera-inspired scheme of work that supports teachers to facilitate whole-class composition, and develops pupils’ listening, composition and creative skills. What attracts you to working on education projects like Finish This… and why are they important?
Working on education projects like Finish This… is incredibly rewarding because it empowers young people to become creators. Teaching children how to compose their own music nurtures creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking, while also building their confidence. Opera, with its unique blend of narrative, music, and visual storytelling, offers an immersive experience that sparks inspiration and opens new creative pathways. I firmly believe that engaging young people in the creative process has a profound and lasting impact on their broader development.
And finally… what’s your favourite opera?!
That’s a particularly difficult question because I love it all! I especially like the very old and the very new. I absolutely love Monteverdi’s operas, La Serva Padrona by Pergolesi, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Handel’s Alcina, and Mozart’s operas (the ENO production of The Magic Flute was so good—I hope it returns!).
I also admire Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, Les mamelles de Tirésias by Poulenc, and La voix humaine, also by Poulenc. Not to mention Alexander Goehr’s Arianna, Louis Andriessen’s operas, Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur, Philip Glass’s works, as well as pieces by George Benjamin, Philip Venables, and Tansy Davies—the list goes on and on!
I’m especially looking forward to seeing Philip Glass and Du Yun in Manchester next year! Go to the opera; you will love it!
