Opéra de Montréal announced $700,0000 dollars in financial support from the Ministére de la culture et dans communications Ambition numérique initiative.

Earmarked for the creation of a digital incubator, the funds empower the company to serve the Québec opera sector with no less than seven recordings and webcast projects, and over 900 fees paid out to artists and artisans over the next three years.

The incubator facilitates the evaluation of alternative delivery and production models, including methods for monetization, discoverability of opera online, and opportunities for local and international partnerships to support and grow the reach of the province’s opera scene.

Opéra de Montréal has partnered with five companies — Opéra de Québec, Société d’art lyrique du Royaume, Chants libres, Musique 3 femmes, and Ballet Opéra Pantomime. Each organization will produce at least one webcasting project realized through the incubator. The individual company projects are in addition to Opéra de Montréal’s seven.

“It is obvious that financial support is an essential requirement in allowing us to move forward and progress during this very unusual period,” Patrick Corrigan, General Director of the Opéra de Montréal, stated in the press release. “The financial assistance offered today by the Government of Quebec and the Minister of Culture and Communications, Ms. Nathalie Roy, is most welcome. It will allow us to rally the driving forces of the opera sector in Quebec and to pool our expertise in order to build a clear and sustainable digital strategy.”

Opéra de Montréal’s two fall webcasts are the 2017 production of “La bohème,” available for streaming starting October 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET and the digital world premiere of Poulenc/Cocteau’s “La voix humaine” and Jobidon/St-Onge’s “L’hiver attend beaucoup de moi.” The double-bill production will run from October 29 to November 3.