Monday 21 January 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For further information, press tickets, photos and interviews, contact John Walker, Press and Marketing Officer: john.walker@englishtouringopera.org.uk, 020 7833 2555, 0774 361 0 362.

Così fan tutte

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, words by Lorenzo Da Ponte, translation by Martin Fitzpatrick

Conducted by James Burton, directed by Paul Higgins

Simon Boccanegra

Music by Giuseppe Verdi, words by Francesco Maria Piave

Conducted by Michael Rosewell, directed by James Conway

The Siege of Calais (L’assedio di Calais)

Music by Gaetano Donizetti, words by Salvatore Cammarano

Conducted by Jeremy Silver, directed by James Conway

Also touring: Laika the Spacedog, an opera for young people; and SPIN, an opera for children with special educational needs.

ETO’s spring 2013 season opens on Saturday 2  March 2013 at Hackney Empire, London

English Touring Opera’s spring 2013 season, opening at Hackney Empire in London on Saturday 2 March, features three new productions of bel canto operas by Mozart, Verdi and Donizetti.  

Paul Higgins’ new period production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte tours alongside Simon Boccanegra – ETO’sfirst new Verdi production in several years, directed by James Conway. Conway also directs Donizetti’s The Siege of Calais, in its first ever UK professional tour.

Alongside the three full-length productions, ETO is touring an award-winning new ‘space opera’ for young people, Laika the Spacedog, and SPIN, an opera for children with profound learning difficulties.

Così fan tutte is in many ways Mozart’s most perfect opera score, and Da Ponte’s most challenging script. In one day fiancés are parted, and new fiancés found – or so it seems. Discovering they are not at all the people they thought they were is strange, exciting, and very embarrassing.

Mozart’s opera, directed by Paul Higgins and conducted by James Burton, is sung in English by a remarkable cast, including Laura Mitchell, Kitty Whately and Paula Sides.

Così fan tutte opens at Hackney Empire, London, on Saturday 2 March 2013, 7.30pm and Thursday 7 March 2013, 7.30pm

Simon Boccanegra is ETO’s first new Verdi production for several years. Directed by James Conway and conducted by Michael Rosewell, this is a massive undertaking for the company, with an unusually large chorus and orchestra, supported with a special grant from the Peter Moores Foundation.

The outstanding cast features Craig Smith in the title role, Keel Watson as Fiesco and Elizabeth Llewellyn singing Amelia.

The opera is sung in Italian with English surtitles, with designs inspired by the Anni di piombo or ‘Years of Lead’- a period of political turmoil in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s.

Simon Boccanegra opens at Hackney Empire, London, on Friday 8 March 2013, 7.30pm

Donizetti’s rarely performed epic The Siege of Calais (L’assedio di Calais) is constructed of bel canto arias and ensembles of extraordinary quality. It is the story of the burghers of Calais, citizens who offer up their lives to save their city from a besieging army. Their sacrifice is quiet, ordinary, sublime – and it culminates in one of the most moving ensembles in all of opera, the momentous O sacra polve, o suol natio (O Sacred Earth).

ETO’s new production is the first ever UK professional tour of Donizetti’s opera. Sung in Italian with English surtitles, The Siege of Calais features designs by Faroese artist Samal Blak, inspired by the siege of Stalingrad.

The Siege of Calais opens at Hackney Empire on Saturday 9 March 2013, 7.30pm.

James Conway, ETO’s General Director, said: ‘Our plans in 2013 are very ambitious, but we have prepared for them for some time. In terms of imagery there is a theme running through them of people in cities governed by the sea – Genoa, Naples, Calais. Mostly, though, our season reflects the diversity and richness of opera.’

Notes to Editors

English Touring Opera is the leading touring opera company in the UK. ETO travels to more regions and to more venues than any other English opera company, touring annually to around 70 theatres and presenting as many as 140 performances per year.  Our aim is to offer opera to everyone, with a varied repertoire of high-quality professional productions and education projects. Each year there are touring productions in spring and autumn. The spring tour tends to be larger scale, with a modern orchestra and chorus, while autumn tours tend to be more intimate, with a diverse repertoire. The roughly ‘classical’ scale of presentation is dictated by the size of the venues – generally theatres which receive little or no other opera. The repertoire is selected with respect to that scale, to the company’s eager audiences around the country, and to the particular strengths of our current cast.

www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

Images

A gallery of high resolution press shots, from a recent photo shoot featuring singers from ETO’s spring 2013 productions, can be found here

Please select the individual photograph within the album then click ‘download’ on the menu of options above the photo, to ensure you get the full resolution version. Please credit the photographer Richard Hubert Smith for these photos.

A gallery of promotional images for and production shots of Laika the Spacedog can be found here. For production shots of Laika, please credit Robert Workman.

Production shots for ETO’s spring 2013 productions will be available from Monday 4 March for Cosi fan tutte, and from Thursday 7 March for Simon Boccanegra and The Siege of Calais.

Press Tickets, Interviews, and Further Information

Press tickets are now available for all performances during ETO’s spring 2013 tour. Please get in touch with ETO’s Press and Marketing Officer John Walker to reserve press seats, or to request images, interviews or further information.

(E: john.walker@englishtouringopera.org.uk  / T: 020 7833 2555 / M: 0774 361 0 362)

Listings information

Così fan tutte

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Director: Paul Higgins

Conductor: James Burton

Cast: Laura Mitchell (Fiordiligi), Kitty Whately (Dorabella), Anthony Gregory (Ferrando), Toby Girling (Guglielmo), Paula Sides (Despina), Richard Mosley-Evans (Don Alfonso)

Simon Boccanegra

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi

Director: James Conway

Conductor: Michael Rosewell

Cast: Craig Smith (Simon Boccanegra), Elizabeth Llewellyn (Amelia), Keel Watson (Fiesco), Grant Doyle (Paolo Albiani), Charne Rochford (Adorno), Piotr Lempa (Pietro).

The Siege of Calais (L’assedio di Calais)

Composer: Gaetano Donizetti

Director: James Conway

Conductor: Jeremy Silver

Cast: Eddie Wade (Eustachio), Paula Sides (Eleonora), Helen Sherman (Aurelio) Cozmin Sime (Eduardo III), Brendan Collins (Pietro de Wisants), Andrew Glover (Giovanni d’Aire), Adam Tunnicliffe (Edmondo), Niel Joubert (Giacomo de Wisants), Matthew Sprange (Armando).

Hackney Empire, Mare Street, Hackney, London, UK

Sat 2 March 2013: Così fan tutte

Thu 7 March 2013: Così fan tutte

Fri 8 March 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Sat 9 March 2013: The Siege of Calais

Booking information: 020 8985 2424 / www.hackneyempire.co.uk

Mon 11 March 2013: Così fan tutte

Tue 12 March 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 0116 242 3595 / www.curveonline.co.uk

Fri 15 March 2013: Così fan tutte

Sat 16 March 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 08448 717 620 / www.churchilltheatre.co.uk

Tue 19 March 2013: Così fan tutte

Wed 20 March 2013: Così fan tutte

Thu 21 March 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Fri 22 March 2013: The Siege of Calais

Sat 23 March 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 01392 493493 / www.exeternorthcott.co.uk

Mon 25 March 2013: Così fan tutte

Tue 26 March 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Wed 27 March 2013: The Siege of Calais

Booking information: 01603 63 00 00 / www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk

Tue 2 April 2013: Così fan tutte

Wed 3 April 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 01293 55 36 36 / www.hawth.co.uk

Fri 5 April 2013: Così fan tutte

Sat 6 April 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 0844 406 8666 / www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

Mon 8 April 2013: Così fan tutte

Tue 9 April 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 0114 249 6000 / www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

Thu 11 April 2013: Così fan tutte

Fri 12 April 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Sat 13 April 2013: The Siege of Calais

Booking information: 01904 623568 / www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Mon 15 April 2013: Così fan tutte

Tue 16 April 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 01902 42 92 12 / www.grandtheatre.info

Thu 18 April 2013: Così fan tutte

Fri 19 April 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Sat 20 April 2013: The Siege of Calais

Booking information: 01728 687 110 / www.aldeburgh.co.uk

Mon 22 April 2013: Così fan tutte

Tue 23 April 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 0191 332 4041 / www.galadurham.co.uk

Thu 25 Apr 2013: Così fan tutte

Fri 26 Apr 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Sat 27 Apr 2013: The Siege of Calais

Booking information: 0845 127 2190 / www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk

Tue 30 Apr 2013: Così fan tutte

Wed 1 May 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Thu 2 May 2013: The Siege of Calais

Fri 3 May 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Sat 4 May 2013: Così fan tutte

Booking information: 01242 572 573 / www.everymantheatre.org.uk

Wed 8 May 2013: Così fan tutte

Thu 9 May 2013: Così fan tutte

Fri 10 May 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Sat 11 May 2013: The Siege of Calais

Booking information: 024 7652 4524 / www.warwickartscentre.co.uk

Thu 16 May 2013: The Siege of Calais

Fri 17 May 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Sat 18 May 2013: Così fan tutte

Booking information: 01738 621 031 / www.perthfestival.co.uk

Tue 21 May 2013: The Siege of Calais

Wed 22 May 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Thu 23 May 2013: Così fan tutte

Fri 24 May 2013: Così fan tutte

Sat 25 May 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 01223 503 333 / www.cambridgeartstheatre.com

Mon 27 May 2013: Così fan tutte

Tue 28 May 2013: Simon Boccanegra

Booking information: 0844 7701 797 / www.glive.co.uk

Thu 30 May 2013: Simon Boccanegra Concert Performance

Booking via Hall for Cornwall, Truro:  01872 262466 / www.hallforcornwall.co.uk #Ends#

Tuesday 4 December 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For further information, press tickets, photos. images and interviews, contact John Walker, Press and Marketing Officer: john.walker@englishtouringopera.org.uk, 020 7833 2555, 0774 361 0 362.

English Touring Opera to delight children, teachers and families with award-winning new space opera Laika the Spacedog

English Touring Opera performs Laika the Spacedog, a PRS Foundation award-winning new opera for children set in space, at the Science Museum in London and across the country from January 2013.

Written for children and family audiences, Laika the Spacedog is designed for Key Stage 2 children in primary schools, and incorporates many areas of the curriculum, including science, history and literacy as well as music.

The opera, which has already won an award from the PRS Foundation, opens with a week of performances at the Science Museum in London from Tuesday 22 January. The music is by Russell Hepplewhite, and the design by Jude Munden.

Laika was the Russian mongrel discovered in Gorky Park in Moscow in 1957, and was the first animal sent into orbit, sadly dying in space like so many other animals sent up by both the Soviet Union and the USA. Laika the Spacedog’s story touches on the lives of the scientists involved, the relationship between men and animals, and the ethics of science and discovery.

The opera’s story is told in diverse ways by nine professional performers – with singing, drama, film, animation (created with children) and puppetry. The piece is highly interactive, with the audience included in many of its songs. A teachers’ pack and cartoon strips also support the project.

The opera is supported by the PRS Foundation, and has won the PRS David Bedford Music Education Award. Generous support has also come from the Fidelio Charitable Trust, and the John Lyon’s Charity.

Laika the Spacedog accompanies ETO’s spring tour of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and Donizetti’s The Siege of Calais, which opens at London’s Hackney Empire in March before touring the country. ETO plans to perform Laika the Spacedog in schools and theatres near to its touring venues.

Tim Yealland, ETO Education Associate and director of Laika the Spacedog, said:  ’This is ETO’s most ambitious new opera yet for young people. The story of Laika is amazing, and we tell it in multiple ways, with a thrilling new score, and partnered almost uniquely to the science of space exploration. We hope that science and art combine to create a rich and stimulating experience.’

Notes to Editors

English Touring Opera is the leading touring opera company in the UK. ETO travels to more regions and to more venues than any other English opera company, touring annually to around 70 theatres and presenting as many as 140 performances per year.  Our aim is to offer opera to everyone, with a varied repertoire of high-quality professional productions and education projects.

ETO’s ambitious outreach programme focuses on creative work – in other words, it creates stimulating opportunities for people to create music theatre, in many different ways, bringing diverse abilities and experiences to that creative work and play. Each year there are an average of 170 workshops and performances (involving more than 5000 people of all ages), ranging from full-scale community operas to intimate performances in care facilities. The company has developed a special expertise in collaborating with children with special needs.

Press Tickets, Images, Interviews, and Further Information.
Press tickets are available for all performances of Laika the Spacedog at the Science Museum: performances will take place at 10:30am and 12:30pm on Tuesday 22, Wednesday 23, Thursday 24 and Friday 25 January 2013. Please get in touch with ETO’s Press and Marketing Officer John Walker to reserve press seats, or to request images, interviews or further information.

(E: john.walker@englishtouringopera.org.uk  / T: 020 7833 2555 / M: 0774 361 0 362)

#ends#

Tuesday 27 November 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For further information, press tickets, photos and interviews, contact John Walker, Press and Marketing Officer: john.walker@englishtouringopera.org.uk, 020 7833 2555, 0774 361 0 362.

English Touring Opera announces 2013 programme

Spring 2013:

Così fan tutte

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, words by Lorenzo Da Ponte

Conducted by James Burton, directed by Paul Higgins

Simon Boccanegra

Music by Giuseppe Verdi, words by Francesco Maria Piave

Conducted by Michael Rosewell, directed by James Conway

The Siege of Calais

Music by Gaetano Donizetti, words by Salvatore Cammarano

Conducted by Jeremy Silver, directed by James Conway

Also touring: Laika the Spacedog, an opera for young people; and SPIN, an opera for young people with profound special needs.

ETO’s spring 2013 season opens on Saturday 2March 2013 at Hackney Empire, Mare Street, London E8

Autumn 2013:

The Coronation of Poppea

Music by Claudio Monteverdi, words by Giovanni Francesco Busenello

Conducted by Michael Rosewell, revival director Oliver Platt, original director James Conway

Jason

Music by Francesco Cavalli, words by Giacinto Andrea Cicognini

Directed from the keyboard by Roger Hamilton; production directed by Ted Huffman

Agrippina

Music by George Frideric Handel, words by Vincenzo Grimani

Conducted by Jonathan Peter Kenny, directed by James Conway

Also touring: Vivaldi Musica Sacra including the Magnificat and Stabat Mater; and Handel Musica Vesperae including Dixit Dominus and Haec est Regina Virginium.

English Touring Opera’s 2013 programme features two ambitious and contrasting seasons of opera.

The spring 2013 season includes three new productions focusing on storytelling through bel canto. James Conway directs the first ever UK professional tour of Donizetti’s The Siege of Calais, with designs by Samal Blak, inspired by the Siege of Stalingrad. Donizetti’s opera tours alongside Simon Boccanegra – ETO’sfirst new Verdi production in several years – and Paul Higgins’ new period production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. ETO artists are also touring a new ‘space opera’ for young people, Laika the Spacedog, and SPIN, an opera for children with profound learning difficulties.

In autumn 2013, ETO brings a festival of baroque opera to venues across the country. A revival production of Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea is joined by new productions of Handel’s Agrippina and Cavalli’s Jason, as well as two concert evenings of sacred music by Vivaldi and Handel in cathedrals, churches and concert halls.

James Conway, ETO’s General Director, said: ‘Our plans in 2013 are very ambitious, but we have prepared for them for some time. In terms of imagery there is a theme running through them of people in cities governed by the sea – Genoa, Naples, Calais, and Venice. Mostly, though, the year’s work reflects the diversity and richness of opera.’

He added: ‘I think we may surprise many people - they may find that Verdi’s tremendous Simon Boccanegra (in the 1881 version) is essentially an intimate drama with a clear story, that The Siege of Calais (slightly re-ordered, as was imagined in the composer’s lifetime) is a powerful essay on citizenship, as well as a brilliant score; they may find a direct line through three very different operas by Monteverdi, Cavalli and Handel, each of them shaped by the intellectual and social life of the home of opera as we know it - baroque Venice. Whatever surprises are in store, in these times a national tour of seven new productions (including Laika the Spacedog, our new opera for young people) and several exciting concert performances is a sign of a healthy pulse, a warm temperature, and a company that loves its audience.’

Booking for spring 2013 is now open, with more information available at www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

Notes to Editors

English Touring Opera is the leading touring opera company in the UK. ETO travels to more regions and to more venues than any other English opera company, touring annually to around 70 theatres and presenting as many as 140 performances per year.  Our aim is to offer opera to everyone, with a varied repertoire of high-quality professional productions and education projects. Each year there are touring productions in spring and autumn. The spring tour tends to be larger scale, with a modern orchestra and chorus, while autumn tours tend to be more intimate, with a diverse repertoire. The roughly ‘classical’ scale of presentation is dictated by the size of the venues – generally theatres which receive little or no other opera. The repertoire is selected with respect to that scale, to the company’s eager audiences around the country, and to the particular strengths of our current cast.

www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

James Conway

General Director of ETO, James Conway has directed a range of operas for the company – including, most recently, the critically-acclaimed Xerxes (Handel), Il tabarro (Puccini), La clemenza di Tito (Mozart), Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky) and The Emperor of Atlantis (Ullmann).In 2010, James directed the world première of Alexander Goehr’s opera, Promised End. His production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (performed by ETO in 2004, and revived in 2010) was nominated for an RPS award. 2013 is Conway’s 11^th year with English Touring Opera. During his time as General Director, he has directed 21 new productions and 4 revivals. Conway has written original libretti for two operas and translations for three others, as well as several works of fiction.

Press Tickets, Images, Interviews, and Further Information

Press tickets are now available for all performances during ETO’s spring 2013 tour. Please get in touch with ETO’s Press and Marketing Officer John Walker to reserve press seats, or to request images, interviews or further information.

(E: john.walker@englishtouringopera.org.uk  / T: 020 7833 2555 / M: 0774 361 0 362)

#Ends#

English Touring Opera to perform Terezín opera The Emperor of Atlantis across England this autumn

• English Touring Opera will perform Viktor Ullmann’s short opera The Emperor of Atlantis across England this October and November
• The opera was composed in 1943, whilst Ullmann was an inmate of the Nazi concentration camp at Terezín, in present-day Czech Republic
• ETO’s production will pair The Emperor of Atlantis with a new arrangement of the Bach cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden
• This is the first opportunity for audiences outside London to see this remarkable work since its last major tour in 1993.
• The first London performances will be on Friday 5 October at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and on Saturday 20 October at the Alyth Reform Synagogue, North London.
• The production will subsequently tour to Cambridge, Exeter, Tunbridge Wells, Harrogate, Aldeburgh, Malvern and Buxton.

A major national opera company will perform an opera written at the Terezín concentration camp during the Second World War this October and November.

English Touring Opera’s new production is a rare chance for audiences to see The Emperor of Atlantis, which has been acclaimed in performances around the world as an extraordinary testament of wit and humanity in the face of barbarity.

The Emperor of Atlantis was written when the composer Viktor Ullmann and librettist Peter Kien were prisoners of the Nazis at Terezín, (also known as Theresienstadt), in present-day Czech Republic. It was first rehearsed by inmates of the camp in 1943, all of whom perished when transferred to Auschwitz a year later.

ETO’s production will open at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio Theatre on Friday 4 October, with a semi-staged performance at the Alyth Reform Synagogue in North London on Saturday 20 October. The Emperor of Atlantis will also be toured to Cambridge, Exeter, Tunbridge Wells, Harrogate, Aldeburgh, Malvern and Buxton.

The opera is subtitled ‘Death’s Refusal’, and has been variously described as a political satire and a parable of hope.

Ullmann’s score incorporates elements of dance, jazz and musical theatre, and was scored for fellow inmates of the Terezín camp, accounting for its unusual orchestration, with instruments including the banjo and harmonium. It was rehearsed at Terezín in 1943, but never performed there, as the Nazi authorities saw the character of the Emperor Overall as a satire on Hitler.

In the story, the Overall, ruler over a large part of the world, proclaims universal war, declaring that his ally Death will lead the conflict. Death is so disgusted at the demands placed on him by total warfare that he goes on strike, only agreeing to resume his work if the Emperor be the first to die.

James Conway’s new production of Ullmann’s opera is conducted by Peter Selwyn and will be paired with a poignant staging of J S Bach’s cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ Lay in Death’s Bonds), arranged for the first time by Iain Farrington for Ullmann’s unusual orchestra. For this production, ETO is working once again with Aurora Orchestra.

The Emperor of Atlantis forms part of ETO’s autumn season of operas, which runs from Thursday 4 October to Saturday 17 November 2012 and also comprises new productions of Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring and Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Lighthouse.

James Conway said: ‘This is no normal season of operas, but a sort of touring festival of approachable, intimate, theatrically compelling operas from the last century. It has every chance of being a performance that changes your ears and your eyes, even your life.’

Dr David Fligg, Principal Lecturer in Classical Music at Leeds College of Music, said: ‘Viktor Ullmann belongs to the lost generation of composers imprisoned at Terezín, and later murdered in Auschwitz. By performing his opera The Emperor of Atlantis across the country, ETO is ensuring that he is remembered not as a victim, but as a significant composer in his own right, and that great art can be created under adversity.’

Notes to Editors

English Touring Opera is the leading touring opera company in the UK. ETO travels to more regions and to more venues than any other English opera company, touring annually to around 70 theatres and presenting as many as 140 performances per year.  Our aim is to offer opera to everyone, with a varied repertoire of high-quality professional productions and education projects.

www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

Aurora Orchestra

Aurora Orchestra aims to inspire, challenge and astonish new audiences with great music, brilliantly performed. It seeks to be the UK’s most versatile orchestra, combining world-class performance with eclectic and innovative programming, a commitment to adventurous collaboration across perceived frontiers of musical genre and artistic form, and a refusal to be bound by convention.

www.auroraorchestra.com

James Conway

General Director of ETO, James Conway has directed a range of operas for the company – including, most recently, the critically-acclaimed Xerxes (Handel), Il tabarro (Puccini) and La clemenza di Tito (Mozart). In 2010, James directed the world première of Alexander Goehr’s opera, Promised End. His production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (performed by ETO in 2004, and revived in 2010) was nominated for an RPS award. 2012 is Conway’s 10^th year with English Touring Opera. During his decade as General Director, he has directed 20 new productions and 4 revivals. In Spring 2013, Conway will be directing Verdi Simon Boccanegra and Donizetti The Siege of Calais for ETO.Conway has written original libretti for two operas and translations for three others, as well as several works of fiction.

Peter Selwyn

Born in London, Peter Selwyn began his career on the Music Staff of ENO, before moving to London’s Royal Opera. At the Bayreuth Festival, he worked for three seasons as assistant to Adam Fischer and Giuseppe Sinopoli on Der Ring des Nibelungen. From 1999 to 2005 he was Kapellmeister and Head of Music at the Staatstheater Nuremberg. He has conducted Jenufa and La cenerentola for ETO, and other companies with whom he has worked include Singapore Lyric Opera, Stadttheater Fürth, OHP, Opera North, Pegasus Opera and WNO. Peter Selwyn is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Internationales Kammermusik Festival Nürnberg.

Press Tickets, Images, Interviews, and Further Information

Press tickets are available for all performances during ETO’s Autumn 2012 tour. Please get in touch with ETO’s Press and Marketing Officer John Walker to reserve press seats, or to request images, interviews or further information.

(E: john.walker@englishtouringopera.org.uk  / T: 020 7833 2555 / M: 0774 361 0 362)

#Ends#

Intimate Opera, High Drama:

English Touring Opera’s Autumn 2012 season

Thursday 4 October – Saturday 17 November 2012

In collaboration with Aurora Orchestra

Albert Herring

Music by Benjamin Britten, words by Eric Crozier

Conducted by Michael Rosewell, Directed by Christopher Rolls

The Emperor of Atlantis

Music by Viktor Ullmann, words by Sonja Lyndon translated from original libretto by Peter Kien

Conducted by Peter Selwyn, Directed by James Conway

performed alongside

Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4 by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by Iain Farrington and directed by James Conway

The Lighthouse

Music and words by Peter Maxwell Davies

Conducted by Richard Baker, Directed by Ted Huffman

ETO’s Autumn 2012 Season opens on Thursday 4 October 2012 at Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

English Touring Opera are once again collaborating with Aurora Orchestra this autumn on a unique season of theatrical opera set to be performed across the country. The tour presents a rare opportunity for audiences at regional theatres and opera houses to see full-scale performances of three diverse and unusual works.

From Thursday 4 October to Saturday 17 November, ETO will perform new productions of Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring and Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Lighthouse, together with a paired staging of Viktor Ullmann’s short opera The Emperor of Atlantis and the Bach cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden.

Starting at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio Theatre, the tour will take in nine different towns and cities across England, from Exeter to Harrogate. For the second time, ETO is collaborating with the award-winning Aurora Orchestra.

Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring, a satire with undertones of melancholy, has become recognised as a classic, comic depiction of English village life. At the start of the composer’s centenary year, ETO’s new production, conducted by Michael Rosewell and directed by Christopher Rolls, includes many experienced and award-winning singers including Jennifer Rhys-Davies, and Mark Wilde in the title role.

Albert Herringopens on Thursday 4, Saturday 6 and Wednesday 10 October at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, before touring the country until Friday 16 November

Viktor Ullmann’s short opera The Emperor of Atlantis was written when the composer and librettist were prisoners of the Nazis at the Terezín concentration camp, and was first rehearsed by inmates of the camp, all of whom perished when transferred to Auschwitz before the premiere. The opera has been acclaimed in performances around the world as an extraordinary testament of wit and humanity in the face of barbarity.

James Conway’s new production of Ullmann’s opera is conducted by Peter Selwyn and will be paired with a poignant staging of J S Bach’s cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ Lay in Death’s Bonds), arranged for the first time by Iain Farrington for Ullmann’s unusual orchestra.

The Emperor of Atlantisopens on Friday 5 and Friday 12 October at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, before touring the country until Saturday 17 November.

The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies is based on a real-life account of the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers on the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides. The piece describes both the suspenseful, cramped conditions of the lighthouse, and the claustrophobia of the court hearing at which the relief keepers give their account of the incident.

ETO’s production marks the first time the opera has toured the UK: it is directed by Ted Huffman and conducted by Richard Baker.

The Lighthouse opens on Thursday 11 and Saturday 13 October at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, before touring the country until Friday 9 November.

After the performances at the Linbury Studio Theatre, the tour will continue to Cambridge’s West Road Concert Hall, the Exeter Northcott, the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells, the Harrogate Theatre, Theatre Royal in Bath, Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Aldeburgh, Malvern Forum Theatre, Malvern Priory and the Buxton Opera House.

James Conway said: ‘This is no normal season of operas, but a sort of touring festival of approachable, intimate, theatrically compelling operas from the last century. It has every chance of being a performance that changes your ears and your eyes, even your life.’

Ted Huffman said: ‘It’s an honour to direct Maxwell Davies’ The Lighthouse this autumn for ETO. The opera presents a unique series of challenges because it is built considerably on atmosphere and suggestion, giving me both great freedom and the feeling that sands are shifting beneath my feet. As is the case with most good ghost stories, I believe that the frightening thing about this story is not what the dead might be getting up to but rather what the living might be capable of.’

John Harte, General Manager of Aurora Orchestra, said: ‘We are delighted to be working again this season with English Touring Opera, not only because of the consistently superb quality of its artistic output, but also in particular because of its imaginative programming and commitment to making great music as widely accessible as possible.  This approach dovetails closely with Aurora’s own ethos, and we look forward very much to inspiring new and existing audiences together on tour later this year.’

Listings Information

Albert Herring

Composer: Benjamin Britten

Conductor: Michael Rosewell

Cast: Mark Wilde (Albert Herring), Jennifer Rhys-Davies (Lady Billows), Rosie Aldridge (Florence Pike), Anna-Clare Monk (Miss Wordsworth), Charles Johnston (Mr Gedge, the vicar), Richard Roberts (Mr Upfold, the mayor), Tim Dawkins (Superintendent Budd), Charles Rice (Sid), Martha Jones (Nancy), Clarissa Meek (Mrs Herring)

The Lighthouse

Composer: Peter Maxwell Davies

Conductor: Richard Baker

Cast: Adam Tunnicliffe (Sandy), Nicholas Merryweather (Blazes), Richard Mosley-Evans (Arthur)

The Emperor of Atlantis (Der Kaiser von Atlantis)

Composer: Viktor Ullmann

Conductor: Peter Selwyn

Cast: Richard Mosley-Evans (Emperor Overall), Robert Winslade Anderson (Death), Callum Thorpe (Loudspeaker), Paula Sides (Bubikopf), Jeffrey Stewart (Harlequin), Katie Bray (Drummer)

1. Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London, UK

4 October 2012: Albert Herring

5 October 2012: The Emperor of Atlantis

6 October 2012: Albert Herring

10 October 2012: Albert Herring

11 October 2012: The Lighthouse

12 October 2012: The Emperor of Atlantis

13 October 2012: The Lighthouse

Booking information: 020 7304 4000 / www.roh.org.uk

2. West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, UK

16 October 2012: The Lighthouse

17 October 2012: Albert Herring

18 October 2012: The Emperor of Atlantis

19 October 2012: Albert Herring

Booking information: 01223 300085 / www.adcticketing.com

3. Exeter Northcott, Exeter, UK

24 October 2012: The Lighthouse

25 October 2012: Albert Herring

26 October 2012: The Emperor of Atlantis

27 October 2012: Albert Herring

Booking information: 01392 493 493 / www.exeternorthcott.co.uk

4. Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, UK

29 October 2012: The Emperor of Atlantis

30 October 2012: Albert Herring

Booking information: 01892 530613/532072 / www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk

5. Harrogate Theatre, Harrogate, UK

1 November 2012: The Lighthouse

2 November 2012: Albert Herring

3 November 2012: The Emperor of Atlantis

Booking information: 01423 502 116 / www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk

6. Theatre Royal Bath, Bath, UK

5 November 2012: Albert Herring

6 November 2012: The Lighthouse

Booking information: 01225 448844 / www.theatreroyal.org.uk

7. Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, UK

9 November 2012: The Lighthouse

10 November 2012: Albert Herring

11 November 2012: The Emperor of Atlantis

Booking information: 01728 687 110 / www.aldeburgh.co.uk

8. Malvern Theatre and Great Malvern Priory, Malvern, UK

13 November 2012: Albert Herring [at Malvern Theatre]

14 November 2012: The Emperor of Atlantis [at Great Malvern Priory]

Booking information: 01684 892277 / www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

9. Buxton Opera House, Buxton, UK

16 November 2012: Albert Herring

17 November 2012: The Emperor of Atlantis

Booking information: 0845 127 2190 / www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk

Notes to Editors

English Touring Opera is the leading touring opera company in the UK. ETO travels to more regions and to more venues than any other English opera company, touring annually to around 70 theatres and presenting as many as 140 performances per year.  Our aim is to offer opera to everyone, with a varied repertoire of high-quality professional productions and education projects. Each year there are touring productions in Spring and Autumn. The Spring tour tends to be larger scale, with a modern orchestra and chorus, while Autumn tours tend to be more intimate, with a diverse repertoire. The roughly ‘classical’ scale of presentation is dictated by the size of the venues, generally theatres which receive little or no other opera. The repertoire is selected with respect to that scale, to the company’s eager audiences around the country, and to the particular strengths of our current cast.

www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

Aurora Orchestra

Since its creation in 2005, Aurora Orchestra has established itself as the most significant new British chamber orchestra in a generation. With two flourishing London residencies and a busy national and international touring schedule, the orchestra has attracted particular praise for its innovative and eclectic programming, adventurous cross-art form collaboration, and commitment to building new audiences for classical music.  It has worked with a roster of world-class artists including Ian Bostridge, Gerald Finley, Rosemary Joshua, Angelika Kirchschlager, Kate Royal, Maxim Rysanov and Robin Ticciati, and last year became the youngest-ever recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Ensemble Award.  Current season highlights include debut appearances at the Royal Festival Hall and Camden’s Roundhouse, collaborations with break dancers, klezmer musicians and filmmakers as part of its New Moves series, and a a televised appearance at the BBC Proms. 

www.auroraorchestra.com

James Conway

General Director of ETO, James Conway has directed a range of operas for the company – including, most recently, the critically-acclaimed Xerxes (Handel), Il tabarro (Puccini), La clemenza di Tito (Mozart)and Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky).In 2010, James directed the world première of Alexander Goehr’s opera, Promised End. His production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (performed by ETO in 2004, and revived in 2010) was nominated for an RPS award. 2012 is Conway’s 10^th year with English Touring Opera. During his decade as General Director, he has directed 20 new productions and 4 revivals. In Spring 2013, Conway will be directing Verdi Simon Boccanegra and Donizetti The Siege of Calais for ETO.Conway has written original libretti for two operas and translations for three others, as well as several works of fiction.

Christopher Rolls

Christopher Rolls is a theatre and opera director based in London, UK. He trained in International Theatre Directing (MA) at Middlesex University (London, N. Ireland, Bangkok, Moscow) and has worked all over the world. In November 2011, he was nominated in category of ‘Outstanding Newcomer’ for a London Evening Standard Theatre Award. In February 2011, Christopher’s production of Les Parents Terribles by Jean Cocteau was nominated for an Olivier Award in the category of Outstanding Production in an Affiliate Theatre. In 2005 Christopher was Resident Assistant Director (RAD) for the Donmar Warehouse Theatre in London’s West End. Christopher has worked as an Assistant Director and Associate Director for the UK’s National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Opera house – Covent Garden, and in the West End.

Ted Huffman

American stage director Ted Huffman has created opera and theatre productions throughout North America and Europe. Ted co-founded the Greenwich Music Festival in Connecticut and continues to serve as the company’s Artistic Director, creating productions including Poulenc’s La voix humaine, Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, and Henze’s El Cimarrón, for which he received a nomination for “Best Opera Direction 2010” in Opernwelt. As a guest teacher and director, Ted has been engaged by many young artist development programs, including Canadian Opera Company’s Studio, LA Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program, Pittsburgh Opera Studio and the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program. He is also a graduate of San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program and the Jerwood Opera Writing Programme at the Aldeburgh Festival (UK).

Michael Rosewell

Michael Rosewell is currently Music Director for English Touring Opera and Opera Director at the Royal College of Music. He began his conducting career in Germany before joining the Vienna State Opera. In Vienna he assisted Claudio Abbado and worked closely with the world’s leading singers, notably Pavarotti and Domingo. Michael has conducted in Kassel, Wiesbaden; Mannheim, where he was resident staff conductor; ENO, and at numerous international festivals, including Buxton, Bath, Perth and Montepulciano. He has appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival and is recognised as one of the leading interpreters of Britten’s music. In concert he has worked with many European orchestras and broadcast on Radio France Musique and Südwestfunk. Most recently, Michael conducted Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin for ETO andrecorded a CD with Grammy award winning tenor Alfie Boe and the Orchestra of Scottish Opera.

Peter Selwyn

Born in London, Peter Selwyn began his career on the Music Staff of ENO, before moving to London’s Royal Opera. At the Bayreuth Festival, he worked for three seasons as assistant to Adam Fischer and Giuseppe Sinopoli on Der Ring des Nibelungen. From 1999 to 2005 he was Kapellmeister and Head of Music at the Staatstheater Nuremberg. He has conducted Jenufa and La cenerentola for ETO, and other companies with whom he has worked include Singapore Lyric Opera, Stadttheater Fürth, OHP, Opera North, Pegasus Opera and WNO. Peter Selwyn is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Internationales Kammermusik Festival Nürnberg.

Richard Baker

Richard Baker is a leading figure on the British contemporary music scene as one of the foremost composer conductors of his generation. He has relationships with many of the UK’s leading ensembles – London Sinfonietta, BCMG, Composers Ensemble and Apartment House.  He is a regular collaborator for the BBC Total Immersion days; for Karlsruhe in Spring 2013  he will conduct a new production of Gerald Barry’s The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit. Richard  studied composition in theNetherlands with Louis Andriessen and in London with John Woolrich, and has a  significant number of works to his credit including ‘Learning to Fly’, a basset clarinet concerto, ‘Gaming’ and ‘Written on a Train’ for voice and ensemble. He is currently writing a new work for Birmingham Contemporary Music Group,for February 2013.

Running Times

Albert Herring – 2 hours 40 minutes, including one 20 minute interval

Christ lag in Todesbanden / The Emperor of Atlantis – 1 hour 20 minutes, with no interval (c.20 minutes for Christ lag in Todesbanden; c.55 minutes for The Emperor of Atlantis

The Lighthouse – 1 hour 35 minutes, including one 20 minute interval

Press Tickets, Images, Interviews, and Further Information

Press tickets are available for all performances during ETO’s Autumn 2012 tour. Please get in touch with ETO’s Press and Marketing Officer John Walker to reserve press seats, or to request images, interviews or further information.

(E: john.walker@englishtouringopera.org.uk  / T: 020 7833 2555 / M: 0774 361 0 362)

#Ends#

 English Touring Opera’s work this summer will bring opera, dance, musical theatre and other art forms to hundreds of young people in the UK and abroad.

The company’s five projects this June and July will include two new operas, a musical theatre project produced as part of the Cultural Olympiad, a day of world arts in Chingford and a visit to Luxembourg to perform an acclaimed interactive opera for children with special needs. 

ETO’s work takes place in between their two national tours this year, and will entertain and inform children of a wide range of ages and abilities, in activities that boost skills in areas including literacy, oracy, music, history and drama. 

ETO’s Thief in the Night project involves a series of workshops with students at John Chilton School in Ealing. The students, all of whom have physical disabilities, are working with a team including composer Russell Hepplewhite and tenor Edward Lee to create a new opera which will be performed to their friends and families on Wednesday 20^th June. John Chilton School hosted a similar project with ETO a year ago, and both projects have been made possible through the generosity of John Lyon’s Charity.

From Wednesday 4^th July to Friday 6^th July, players and singers from ETO will perform the interactive opera RedBlueGreenin Luxembourg. ETO’s artists have been invited by the EME Foundation and the Luxembourg Philharmonie to perform RedBlueGreen to audiences of infants and children with special educational needs. The operahas already been performed to audiences across the UK as part of ETO’s Spring 2012 season, and uses sound, imagery, smell, touch and colour to interact with its audiences.

ETO’s Under the Hill project will involve a week-long creative residency in Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, from Monday 2^nd July – Friday 6^th July, culminating in a full performance of an opera by students from three local schools. Under the Hill will see Tim Yealland working once again with Russell Hepplewhite, as children of a wide range of ages and abilities join forces with artists including tenor Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, in a project building on the history of the local Chipping Sodbury Rail Tunnel.

On Wednesday 11^th July, 240 students at Chingford Foundation School in North East London will enjoy a unique day of arts from across the world. Coordinated by ETO, A MADD Day(Music, Art, Drama and Dance) will feature celebrated artists in eight different disciplines delivering interactive workshops to the year 9 students. Activities will include Japanese Taiko drumming, a tutorial in circus skills, Capoeira classes and Indian Bharatanatyam dancing.

The company’s final educational project of the summer will be Parallel, a collaboration with Salisbury Playhouse as part of the Cultural Olympiad. In this unique theatrical event, running at the Playhouse from Thursday 12^th – Saturday 14^th July, audiences will be guided on a promenade journey through the theatre before taking their seats for a show telling stories about the people, places and events that have made the Olympic and Paralympic Games so special. Parallel, which again features music by Russell Hepplewhite, has been granted the prestigious London 2012 Inspire mark, which recognises exceptional and innovative projects inspired by the 2012 Olympic Games.

Tim Yealland said: ‘The summer always offers us at ETO new opportunities in terms of our engagement with schools and young people and this summer is no exception. In fact the end of the summer terms is something of a festival for us, with five big projects here and abroad, ranging from in-school residencies, to Olympic/Paralympic celebrations, and performances for people with special needs at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg. A huge thank you to all the artists, staff and participants who invariably throw themselves into these events with fabulous zeal and commitment - and, dare I say it, love.’

Russell Hepplewhite said: ‘It is tremendously exciting to be working as composer on Thief in the Night, Under the Hill and Parallel for ETO over the summer, and it is amazing to have the opportunity to write music for such different groups of young people to perform in a variety of settings.  Part of my challenge is in finding the right musical language to suit the ideas and stories that the young people in each of these projects devises; and to match their imagination and ambition - no easy task.  As I compose the music for these shows, if I find it difficult to hear what the next bit of music should sound like I think about the young people who wrote the lyrics and this always provides me with that next piece in the musical jigsaw’

Future ETO projects involving young audiences include ‘Towards an Unknown Port’, a song cycle by Helen Chadwick which will be performed by local choirs alongside the company’s full-length production of The Emperor of Atlantis this autumn; and a new opera for children about the Soviet space dog Laika, due to be performed in Spring 2013.

Listings Information

Parallel // RUSSELL HEPPLEWHITE, Playhouse, Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Thursday 12 July – Saturday 14 July, 7.15pm, and matinee Saturday 14 July, 2.15pm.

Tickets £10 (under 25s £8), box office 01722 320 333.

Notes to Editors

English Touring Opera is the leading touring opera company in the UK. ETO travels to more regions and to more venues than any other English opera company, touring annually to around 70 theatres and presenting as many as 140 performances per year.  Our aim is to offer opera to everyone, with a varied repertoire of high-quality professional productions and education projects.

ETO’s ambitious outreach programme focuses on creative work – in other words, it creates stimulating opportunities for people to create music theatre, in many different ways, bringing diverse abilities and experiences to that creative work and play. Each year there are an average of 170 workshops and performances (involving more than 5000 people of all ages), ranging from full-scale community operas to intimate performances in care facilities. The company has developed a special expertise in collaborating with children with special needs.

www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

For images, interviews or further information, please contact John Walker, Press & Marketing Officer

E: john.walker@englishtouringopera.org.uk / T: 020 7833 2555 / M: 0774 361 0 362

ENDS

• Two of ETO’s conductors, Michael Rosewell and Paul McGrath, are to appear on BBC Two’s forthcoming competition Maestro at the Opera,  which starts on Friday 4^th May at 9pm
  
  
• Paul McGrath, currently conducting The Barber of Seville, will be the expert mentor for mathematician Marcus du Sautoy
  
  
• Michael Rosewell, who is currently conducting Eugene Onegin, has been chosen as the mentor for dancer and choreographer Craig Revel Horwood

____________________________________________________________

Two of ETO’s conductors are to appear as expert mentors on BBC Two’s new conducting competition Maestro at the Opera, which starts on BBC Two on Friday 4 May at 9pm.

Paul McGrath, who is currently conducting The Barber of Seville, has been chosen to mentor prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy in the television series.

ETO’s Music Director Michael Rosewell, currently conducting Eugene Onegin, will mentor the dancer and choreographer Craig Revel Horwood.

As highly experienced professional opera conductors, Paul and Michael will be responsible for teaching and guiding the contestants through the world of opera with all its pitfalls and high drama on and off stage.

Maestro at the Opera,which starts on BBC Two on Friday 4^th May, is a creative collaboration between the BBC and the Royal Opera House, and sees four well-known personalities facing possibly the greatest challenge in their careers and in classical music as they pick up the baton and become apprentice conductors.

The brave trainees will compete to conduct a complete Act of a legendary opera performed on the hallowed main stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with a cast of exciting international young artists and the ROH’s world class orchestra and chorus.

Paul McGrath said: ‘It was very interesting to be able to participate in a series which shows what opera conductors actually do. It’s been great working with my fabulous celeb student Marcus du Sautoy. I hope the series will be both fun and informative’.

Michael Rosewell said: ‘This is an honest attempt to explore the whole process of opera. I’m very pleased to be involved with a programme that helps to open up opera to new audiences - something at the forefront of ETO’s thinking and the work we do across the country.’

NOTES TO EDITORS

English Touring Opera is the leading touring opera company in the UK. ETO travels to more regions and to more venues than any other English opera company, touring annually to around 70 theatres and presenting as many as 140 performances per year.  Our aim is to offer opera to everyone, with a varied repertoire of high-quality professional productions featuring some of the finest talent in opera. www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

Paul McGrath

Paul McGrath trained at the National Opera Studio, London and the Royal Northern College of Music. A former assistant to Sir Georg Solti, he made his professional début conducting Donizetti´s L´Ajo nell´imbarazzo at the Batignano Festival, Italy. Notable amongst his European engagements are: Jonathan Dove´s Flight for De Vlaamse Opera; the World Première of Jonathan Dove´s Siren Song for Almeida Opera, La Perichole for the Theater Basel and Orpheus in the Underworld and Die Zauberflote for Opera North and The Magic Flute for English Touring Opera. He has conducted at the BBC Proms and as Associate Conductor the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. His collaboration with Michael Nyman includes recordings of Love Counts and Man and Boy:Dada.

Michael Rosewell

Michael Rosewell is currently Music Director for English Touring Opera and Opera Director at the Royal College of Music. He began his conducting career in Germany before joining the Vienna State Opera. In Vienna he assisted Claudio Abbado and worked closely with the world’s leading singers, notably Pavarotti and Domingo. Michael has conducted in Kassel, Wiesbaden; Mannheim, where he was resident staff conductor; ENO, and at numerous international festivals, including Buxton, Bath, Perth and Montepulciano. He has appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival and is recognised as one of the leading interpreters of Britten’s music. In concert he has worked with many European orchestras and broadcast on Radio France Musique and Südwestfunk. Most recently, Michael conducted Puccini’s Il tabarro /Gianni Schicchi for ETO andrecorded a CD with Grammy award winning tenor Alfie Boe and the Orchestra of Scottish Opera.

—Ends—

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Release

• English Touring Opera to tour three educational operas at once for the first time this spring
  
  
• For the first time, English Touring Opera are performing three educational operas in one season, in a series of more than 50 performances in primary schools and concert halls across the UK
  
  
• The three projects are In the Belly of the Horse for KS2/ 7-12 year olds, The Feathered Ogre for KS1 / 4-7 year olds, and RedBlueGreen for infants and children with profound learning difficulties and special needs.
  
  
• Public performances of In the Belly of the Horse and The Feathered Ogre will also take place, in Truro, Warwick and Aldeburgh.

__________________________________________________________

English Touring Opera is touring three new operas for young people at once for the first time this spring, for children of a wide range of age and ability in schools and theatres across the UK.

ETO’s season of more than 50 educational performances, which runs until late May, started with In the Belly of the Horse, an opera for 6-12 year olds based on the myth of the Trojan Horse. The Feathered Ogre is designed for children aged 4-7 and is an operatic retelling of a classic folk tale, while RedBlueGreen isa multi-sensory opera for infants and children with profound learning difficulties. All three operas are highly interactive and introduce children to a wide range of orchestral instruments. They are being toured alongside ETO’s full-length performances of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Eugene Onegin.

In the Belly of the Horse is a fully interactive new opera suitable for children aged 6-12, with music written by Rachel Leach. It is based on the classical myth of the Trojan horse and mixes acting, singing, instrumental music, dance and design. In the Belly of the Horse has already performed to sell-out audiences at the British Museum and will be performed at the Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh on Saturday 14^th April, 2pm, and in schools across the UK

The Feathered Ogre is a brand new retelling of a classic Italian folk tale by Italo Calvino, for children aged 4-7, with music by Russell Hepplewhite. The piece includes many interactive elements such as songs for audiences to sing. The Feathered Ogrewill be performed at Hall for Cornwall’s Assembly Room on Wednesday 28^th March, 1.30pm, at the Warwick Arts Centre on Saturday 12th May, 2pm, and in schools across the UK. The performance at the Warwick Arts Centre will also form a major part of ETO’s contribution to European Opera Day.

RedBlueGreen is a highly interactive, multi-sensory opera for infants and children with profound learning difficulties and special needs. It is a highly stimulating and interactive show, using sound, imagery, smell, touch and colour to engage and delight its audiences.

Tim Yealland, Education Associate; Writer/Director of In the Belly of the Horse and The Feathered Ogre: ‘This is a unique opportunity to take interactive opera to about 7,000 children across the UK. The three operas are tailored for the age and ability of the audience, and are designed to inspire as well as entertain. All the operas try to engage freshly with the children, and they are full of interactive moments, in which the audience joins in with songs (which we send out in advance) or even join us on stage. We use the widest mix of art forms in the telling of our stories, with things like animated film, puppetry, dance, as well as singing and acting. We want to create a sense of creative wonder, and to perhaps inspire a child to pick up an instrument, paint a picture, or write a story. One day they might come and see another opera as well!’

Abigail Kelly, who performs in RedBlueGreen and In the Belly of the Horse: ‘One of the things that I love the most about touring is taking part in the wonderful education projects devised by ETO. Taking these projects into the schools where we tour is so important to the future of opera, as I like to think that we are in fact performing to the next generation of opera goers. The amount of energy that we get back from the kids really inspires me to give them that same amount of energy back in performance’

Information for all the operas can be found at

www.englishtouringopera.org.uk/education

NOTES TO EDITORS

English Touring Opera is the leading touring opera company in the UK. ETO travels to more regions and to more venues than any other English opera company, touring annually to around 70 theatres and presenting as many as 140 performances per year.  Our aim is to offer opera to everyone, with a varied repertoire of high-quality professional productions featuring some of the finest talent in opera.

ETO’s ambitious outreach programme focuses on creative work – in other words, it creates stimulating opportunities for people to create music theatre, in many different ways, bringing diverse abilities and experiences to that creative work and play. Each year there are an average of 170 workshops and performances, involving more than 5000 people of all ages, ranging from full-scale community operas to intimate performances in care facilities. The company has developed a special expertise in collaborating with children with special needs.

www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

Creative Team Biographies

Tim Yealland

Tim read English at Cambridge, then studied singing at GSMD and the Munich Hochschule. His performing career included roles in opera and theatre, including work for Opera Factory, Opera 80, ENO, ROH, Opera North and Chichester Festival. His passion for education has led him to devise and direct projects for all the main opera companies, and many others here and abroad. He has led the education work at ETO since 2003, bringing a particular commitment to integrating special and mainstream schools. He has created three community operas for ETO: One Breath (Sheffield), A House on the Moon (Wolverhampton) and One Day Two Dawns (Cornwall). He has also written the libretti for several operas for young people, including Voithia and In the Belly of the Horse.

James Conway

General Director of ETO, James Conway has directed a range of operas for the company – including, most recently, the critically-acclaimed Xerxes (Handel), Il tabarro (Puccini) and La clemenza di Tito (Mozart). In 2010, James directed the world première of Alexander Goehr’s opera, Promised End. His production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (performed by ETO in 2004, and revived in 2010) was nominated for an RPS award. 2012 is Conway’s 10^th year with English Touring Opera. During his decade as General Director, he has directed 20 new productions and 4 revivals. In Autumn 2012, Conway will be directing Peter Maxwell Davies The Lighthouse. Conway has written original libretti for two operas and translations for three others, as well as several works of fiction.

Russell Hepplewhite

Russell studied at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester and subsequently at the Royal College of Music. Russell has composed works for many different ensembles.  His compositions have been performed by distinguished musicians at major venues including the Wigmore Hall, the Library Theatre Luton, the Purcell Room and the Queen Elizabeth Hall. 

Russell has worked extensively in education and outreach, composing major pieces for English Touring Opera, Rambert Dance Company, Southwark Playhouse, and Sheffield Theatres. As a chamber musician he has given concerts with various ensembles throughout the country, including performances of the Brahms Piano Trios and Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunnaire. Russell is also an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and teaches Musicianship and Composition at the Royal College of Music Junior Department.

LISTINGS INFORMATION FOR PUBLIC PERFORMANCES:

The Feathered Ogre // RUSSELL HEPPLEWHITE, Hall for Cornwall Assembly Room, Truro

Wednesday 28 March 2012, 1.30pm

Tickets: £4 all tickets. 01872 262 466 / www.hallforcornwall.co.uk

In The Belly of the Horse // RACHEL LEACH, Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
Saturday 14 Apr 2012,  2pm.

Tickets: £4.50 for adults and children. 01728 687110 /  www.aldeburgh.co.uk/events/eto-belly-horse

The Feathered Ogre // RUSSELL HEPPLEWHITE, Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry

Saturday 12 May 2012, 2pm

Tickets: £9.25 / concessions £6.25. 024 7652 4524 / www.warwickartscentre.co.uk

—Ends—

For immediate release  

 ENGLISH TOURING OPERA’S SPRING 2012 SEASON

The Barber of Seville

Music by Gioachino Rossini, translation by David Barry

Conducted by Paul McGrath, Directed by Thomas Guthrie

Eugene Onegin

Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, translation by David Lloyd-Jones

Conducted by Michael Rosewell, Directed by James Conway

Spring 2012 Season opens on Thurs 8 March 2012 at Hackney Empire, London

_______________________________________________________

English Touring Opera’s Spring 2012 season comprises of two blockbusters of the operatic repertoire: Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. These two favourites will tour to 16 venues around England and Scotland – from Truro to Perth, Crawley to Durham – from Thursday 8 March 2012 until Saturday 26 May 2012.

Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ENGLISH TOURING OPERA ANNOUNCES 2012 PROGRAMME

SPRING 2012

The Barber of Seville

Music by Gioachino Rossini, translation by David Parry

Conducted by Paul McGrath, Directed by Thomas Guthrie

Eugene Onegin

Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, translation by David Lloyd-Jones

Conducted by Michael Rosewell, Directed by James Conway

Spring 2012 Season opens on Thurs 8 March 2012 at Hackney Empire, London

AUTUMN 2012

Albert Herring

composed by Benjamin Britten

The Emperor of Atlantis

composed by Viktor Ullmann

performed alongside

Christ lag in Todesbanden BWV 4

composed by Johann Sebastian Bach

The Lighthouse

composed by Peter Maxwell-Davies

Autumn 2012 Season opens on Friday 5 October 2012 at Linbury Studio Theatre, ROH2

Autumn 2012 season performed with Aurora Orchestra

Read More