2023: A year of Collaboration and Creativity
2023 saw OperaUpClose return to live performance with the wind in our sails. Not only have we toured two full scale productions reaching audiences all over the UK, but we have also been developing extraordinary work that is building lasting relationships with local communities and a wide range of wonderful artists.
Our inclusion in the Arts Council England National portfolio this year is a powerful endorsement of our vision, our mission and our most ambitious programme to date - we are so grateful to them, and to our other generous funders and supporters for believing in what we do. New work with new friends across all our projects - the future is definitely bright. It is with immense pride that we can now take a breath, reflect, and share the achievements of an extraordinary year. None of it would be possible without you, and we can not wait to take forward the energy and creativity of 2023 to 2024 and beyond.
Thank you and enjoy!
1. THE Flying Dutchman - a tour de force!
The Flying Dutchman, created and produced in partnership with the peerless Manchester Camerata, set sail in June 2023 touring to eclectic venues in waterside locations across the UK. This production set out our commitment to innovative performance practice, collaboration and re-invention, with a stella cast of singers and players bringing Glyn Maxwell and Laura Bowler’s take on this epic masterpiece viscerally to life as an urgent, contemporary tale for our time. Also featuring our first collaboration with community choirs nationwide, Lucy Bradley’s production was intensely powerful and involved musical storytelling; we were moved and delighted with the reception this bold, brave interpretation received wherever it anchored.
“It’s The Flying Dutchman — but not as we know it… Philippa Boyle is powerful and poignant as Starlight, while Pauls Putnins balances human warmth with raw desperation as the Mariner.” Rebecca Franks, The Times
“A fearless, ambitious re-telling of Richard Wagner’s epic tale and score… Pauls Putnins' Mariner… a glorious voice as deep and as powerful as one might imagine the ocean on which he suffered.” Simon Bishop, Stage Talk Magazine
“Music Director Tim Burke and all the Manchester Camerata players were incredibly tight, and their doubling as chorus was effective and impressively effortless.” Nick Boston, bachtrack.com
Learn more in our blog; Reflecting on The Flying Dutchman Tour.
2. Peace At Last delights children and families across the UK
Partnering with Southampton and the Isle of Wight Music Hubs and the brilliant Chickenshed Theatre, we were delighted to bring a refreshed and enhanced revival of our opera for 2-5 year olds, Peace At Last, to children and families nationwide in 2023. A brilliant cast brought Jill Murphy’s much-loved picture book to life in both theatres and schools and we were again thrilled with the responses from everyone who saw it. You can view the digital programme here.
As part of a strategy for Early Years provision in our local area, and at a time when arts provision is increasingly squeezed, OperaUpClose are delighted to be actively contributing to keeping music and live performance in the classroom. By putting children’s imagination at the heart of our work, and taking theatre directly into schools as well as performing arts venues, we are bringing the power and inclusivity of musical storytelling to all. Here’s what our key collaborators said:
“Exploring opera with some of Chickenshed’s inclusive theatre for children ideas has been a pleasure! It's wonderful to witness children and their families enjoy a classic story i, what is for many, their first experience of opera” - Sarah Driver, Chickenshed Associate Director on Peace At Last
“Partnership projects like this are such an important part of our music hub offer to schools in Southampton and the Isle of Wight and the long lasting impression events such as have. Taking the fantastic high quality music-making and performances that OperaUpClose offers directly into school settings has allowed us to reach a huge cross section of young people who would not normally have the opportunity to take part and enjoy these kinds of events due to their remote location or access to the arts.“ - Isle of Wight Music Hub Lead, Nia Collins
Learn more in our blog on how Peace At Last hit all the right notes for families and children across the UK.
3. Big Give #ChristmasChallenge proves a winner
For anyone keeping a close eye on OperaUpClose it would have been difficult to miss our Big Give #ChristmasChallenge campaign early this month. And with your help, we did it! We made our Big Give #ChristmasChallenge target and raised £12,500!
As part of a major new touring production in partnership with MAST, Mayflower Studios, these funds will help us engage a network of coastal community singing groups directly in the making of our work, collaborating with experienced specialists and professionals. This new project is a significant development of OperaUpClose’s long-term commitment to community engagement, first seen in our successful and widely praised 2023 re-imagining of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. Building and expanding on established relationships with community choirs in multiple locations, this project will see groups explore and record The Last Bit of the Moon, a new companion piece to Vaughan Williams’ one act opera Riders To The Sea, by Michael Betteridge, Antosh Wojcik and ArtfulScribe’s Community Sirens.
Thank you so much to everyone who supported our campaign, whether you donated or shared our content and helped us get the word out there. Our journey with the Vaughan Williiams' Riders To The Sea project doesn't end here and we can’t wait to share what’s happening next in the New Year!
4. OperaCocktail shakes up the classics
It has been brilliant to bring this musical picnic of well-loved classics roaring back to life in 2023! Following our first performance at Mansfield Theatre, the OperaCocktail team were thrilled to board the Queen Elizabeth in September 2023 and sail the Med as part of the Cunard Showcases programme. As well as bringing our own special spin on operatic favourites, performing up-close in the Garden Lounge, we also ran a series of highly popular chorus workshops giving passengers a chance to explore their own operatic sound.
When we weren’t busy rehearsing, performing and delivering workshops, we did, of course, find time to soak up some of the magical atmosphere on board, and we’re very happy to announce we’ll be on our travels with Cunard again, sailing from Southampton to Bermuda in January 2024!
OperaCocktail also returns to theatres in 2024 and you can book your tickets now!
5. A sea of talent in Southampton and Manchester
In November we had the great pleasure of running 2 days of general auditions to meet new artists and catch-up with some old friends.
We heard nearly 60 artists and the panel of Flora McIntosh, Michael Betteridge, Kelvin Lim and Jonathan Fisher were blown away by the talent and commitment of everyone who came to sing. The atmosphere was creative and enabling - we hope the singers got as much from working with us as we did working with them! One auditionee commented:
“...by far the most enjoyable during this year's 'audition season' -it was fun and I felt like I was given the time to showcase myself. The panel seemed genuinely invested in truly listening and watching my audition.”
And so, to the future…
We have a treasure trove of wonderful projects in the pipeline. Exciting times indeed!
Vaughan Williams' miniature masterpiece Riders to the Sea alongside the new choral companion piece by Michael Betteridge The Last Bit of the Moon - keep an eye out for casting announcements in the new year. A re-framed and re-orchestrated version of Puccini’s brilliant Gianni Schicci by rising stars Hannah Kumari and Vahan Salorian, for a cast of opera singers and actor musicians. Working with Athena Stevens on the initial development stages of a bold new take on Strauss' Salome
And all this alongside our ongoing work for 2-5 year olds and OperaCocktail performances around the world.
Watch this space for all the news - we can’t wait to share it.