The project 'Interactive sheet music in music theater' aims to promote digitization in cultural institutions and is looking closely at the work processes in operas.

Together with the Deutsche Oper Berlin (German Opera Berlin), we have identified the advantages of using digital sheet music behind the scenes.

Problems with paper notes have become more and more apparent: high weight when carrying a lot of paper around, information arrives too late or fragmented at its destination or many similar processes have to be repeated in a very short amount of time.

With the focus on sheet music as a working tool and the awareness that sheet music is not only read and labeled linearly from front to back, we need digital solutions (digital workflows, user interfaces and devices) that are hardly covered by current score viewers.

For such a complex field, it makes sense to document a detailed exploration of the work steps and the connections between them. In doing so, we follow the principles of user experience research, i.e. exploring what users are capable of and what they would be willing to do in order to carry out their work. We will not banish paper from the opera, but we want to help create an environment and associated programs that enable familiar and fast digital work with sheet music.