How Does Opus One Foster the Next Generation of Composers?

Each summer, students from advanced music programs around the world gather at the Château de Fontainebleau, a 900-year-old royal residence surrounded by formal French gardens and the celebrated Forest of Fontainebleau. The Château’s remarkable history, architectural beauty, and natural surroundings have long inspired the artists who study within its storied halls.

In support of this extraordinary program, Opus One awards composition scholarships to select students of the Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts. Each scholarship recipient is invited to compose an original work, approximately ten minutes in length, inspired by the Château’s rich heritage and surrounding landscape. From this year’s cohort of composers, Nora Popescu was selected to receive the 2026 Opus One International Prize for Composition.

A Canadian composer, pianist, and conductor based in Berlin, Popescu has performed throughout Canada, the United States, France, and Italy and holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from McGill University. As part of the prize, she will serve as Opus One’s Composer in Residence, creating a new work inspired by the Estate in Oakville and continuing the creative dialogue between Fontainebleau and Napa Valley that the partnership was designed to foster.

This fall, Popescu will visit Opus One alongside fellow musicians from the Fontainebleau Schools to perform her award-winning composition, Papillons de Fontainebleau (“Butterflies of Fontainebleau”), a work inspired by one of the forest’s most delicate inhabitants.

Home to more than 80 species of butterflies, the Forest of Fontainebleau provided the inspiration for Popescu’s five-movement composition. Fluttering through the same woodlands that welcomed generations of French royalty, these butterflies have become the subjects of a musical portrait of place. Each movement explores the color, character, and distinctive beauty of a different species, transforming fleeting moments of observation into music.

I. Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvae)

The opening movement is inspired by the Grizzled Skipper, a small butterfly distinguished by its striking black-and-white pattern. An important pollinator within the Fontainebleau forest ecosystem, it moves swiftly from flower to flower, contributing to the vitality of its habitat. Despite its modest size of just 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters, the Grizzled Skipper is full of energy and is most often found in sunny, open landscapes such as meadows and prairie-like fields.

In Papillons de Fontainebleau, the movement opens with a fleeting two-note motif that evokes the butterfly’s distinctive bi-color markings before gradually unfolding into a gently rocking, dance-like melody. Moments of unexpected intrusion interrupt the music throughout, symbolizing the fragility of the natural world and the consequences of excessive human intervention, which continue to threaten butterfly populations and their habitats.

II. Burnet Moth (Zygaena transalpina)

The second movement pays tribute to the brilliantly colored Burnet Moth. Perhaps most recognizable for its vivid blue wings adorned with six bright red spots, this striking species is further distinguished by its unusual club-shaped antennae. Its bold coloration serves as a warning to predators, signaling its toxicity and providing its strongest defense.

Popescu captures the Burnet Moth’s vibrant character through a lively mixed-meter dance infused with scherzando energy. The movement celebrates both its brilliant coloration and distinctive physical features, while an extended pizzicato passage paints a musical portrait of the varied landscapes in which it thrives.

III. Blue Argus (Polyommatus icarus)

The third movement follows the Blue Argus, a serene species whose sky-blue wings shimmer with subtle hints of violet. Unlike many related butterflies, the “Icarus” Argus is edged by a delicate white fringe that gives its wings a feather-like appearance.

Here, Popescu crafts a reflective, chorale-inspired movement that captures the quiet wonder of observing this butterfly in nature. The music unfolds with contemplative stillness, punctuated by occasional flutters that suggest the butterfly gently lifting from one blade of grass to another as it surveys its territory.

IV. Tristan (Aphantopus hyperantus)

The fourth movement is devoted to the Tristan, a medium-sized brown butterfly often described as a curious woodland dweller. Preferring the cool shade of dense forests, it is recognizable by the five eye-like markings encircled with yellow that adorn its wings.

These markings inspire a movement of mystery and quiet foreboding. Through the use of tremolos, Popescu explores the play of light across the butterfly’s wings, which can reveal surprising flashes of blue when viewed from certain angles.

V. Petit Collier Argenté (Boloria selene)

In the fifth and final butterfly portrait, Popescu celebrates the Petit Collier Argenté, perhaps the most enchanting species of the collection. Its “little silver necklace” is formed by a delicate interplay of wavy brown markings across vivid orange wings, edged with a silvery-white fringe. Unlike many of the butterflies portrayed in the preceding movements, which favor sunny meadows and open spaces, the Petit Collier Argenté prefers quieter, more secluded habitats. Among its favorite flowers is the violet, whose rich purple blossoms provide a striking contrast to the butterfly’s warm orange hues.

To capture its elusive beauty, Popescu employs recitative-like solo lines that reveal the butterfly gradually rather than all at once. The music lingers in a world of poetic subtlety and quiet discovery, reflecting the experience of encountering this hidden jewel of the forest.

The work culminates in a final flutter of imagination as the butterflies take flight together, disappearing into the distance.

Through Opus One’s partnership with the Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts, we continue our founders’ vision of fostering artistic excellence, cultural exchange, and craftsmanship, celebrating the enduring relationship between the arts, place, and the pursuit of excellence.

Shared August 2026