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Come join our team!

Are you an opera, music or theatre lover, who wants to be part of a small and dedicated team bringing amazing arts experiences into high streets, shopping centres, schools, carehomes and more? Baseless Fabric is on the lookout for new Trustees!

What does a Board of Trustees do?

The board are a group of people who meet to oversee and advise on everything Baseless Fabric does.

This could mean advising on project plans, providing strategic guidance, legal expertise or financial management, advising on marketing and communications, helping out at performances – or anything else!

 

What are we looking for?

We are currently especially looking for a new trustee with skills and experience in:

  • Arts management /Producing opera or theatre (possibly with a view to applying for NPO status in the future)
  • And/or safeguarding and work with young people
  • Understanding and experience of small project funded arts organisations (desirable)
  • Enthusiasm and energy for our work and objectives (essential)

Baseless Fabric believes in diversity and to make our board more representative we would really like to encourage applications from people who are disabled, people from global majority (black, Asian or other minority ethnic backgrounds) and people who are working class. No previous board experience is needed.

 

What do you need to know?

Being a trustee is a voluntary role, and the Board of Trustees are responsible for setting the vision and direction of the charity, supporting the leadership team and providing advice and insight. The board meets 4 times a year usually online. The time commitment outside of these meetings varies but we try to keep it minimal with trustees asked to offer some specific advice in their area of expertise.

 

Why be a board member?

Being on a board means you get to shape and support our work and is an invaluable chance to gain professional development and leadership experience. We are a small Board of Trustees so you have the opportunity to join a friendly team and make a positive contribution through the skills, experience and enthusiasm that you will bring to the charity. There is huge scope for future development not least through expanding our networks, improving our sustainability and helping us move to the next stage of our career. You will get to see firsthand the impact of our work with young people, older people, pop up street performances and offering something unusual in the world of opera!

 

Interested?

If you are unsure about applying, feel free to reach out for an informal chat – we’d love to hear from you!

If you are interested, please email your CV and a short cover letter, or video recording, telling us why you’re interested and what you think you could bring to Baseless Fabric to Artistic Director Joanna Turner at [email protected]. 

Deadline: 28 March 2025 at 5pm, but we’d be very happy to hear from you before then too.

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Monthly Opera Clubs starting!

We’re gearing up for an exciting few months with projects starting in March with two of our longterm partners in the run up to our street opera production of The Elixir of Love this summer. Over the next few months we will be running monthly sessions at both Roehampton Base Youth Club and the Commonside Trust Elders Lunchclub!  Both groups will learn about the story and characters in The Elixir of Love in our new version; hear an opera singer sing live and up close; learn to sing a section of the opera themselves and other fun activities! We’ll also be listening to the groups to find out what sort of things they’d like to get up to in the sessions and which artists working in opera they’d like to meet and learn from. We can’t wait to get started!!

If you’re local to Roehampton aged 6-18 or local to Pollards Hill aged over 55 and would like to get involved please do get in touch for further information.

Hugest thanks to our funders for supporting this work!

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“I could have danced all night!”

What a lovely time we had last month delivering our concerts for older people’s groups. We visited 8 different carehomes and community centre lunchclubs for older people across Merton, Wandsworth and Croydon. Our fantastic team of Elspeth on piano with Felicity or Claire singing delighted the group with a mixture of opera arias, musical theatre numbers, classical songs and a piano solo – or rather imagining Elspeth being the whole orchestra playing the overture to the Marriage of Figaro! We had such a great time chatting to everyone, hearing their stories and memories, and listening to their great singing along to classics from The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady!

“I just wanted to extend my gratitude and thanks on behalf of the team and our members for the wonderful performance put on by Elspeth and Felicity last Friday. Our members thoroughly enjoyed it and keep asking when they are returning. Elspeth and Felicity couldn’t have been more warm, engaging and entertaining.”

“I just wanted to say how much we all enjoyed the performance on Friday – it was absolutely amazing!’”

‘Thank you so much for organising yesterday’s performance. It was absolutely incredible. We had tears, smiles and sing-a-longs. A highly appreciated afternoon. They have all asked when we can relive it.”

Thank you so much for having us! And for your joyous singing along. We can’t wait to return.

 

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Welcoming our Elixir of Love R&D team!!

We are so excited to be working with this brilliant group of people this autumn on the Research & Development period of our brand new adaptation of Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love. Director/librettist Joanna Turner has been hard at work cutting, pasting, rewriting the story and updating the libretto (words) of the opera for London life today while composer Leo Geyer has been busy rewriting the music from full orchestra to 3 instruments suitable for promenade performance – our classic combo of violin, accordion & bassoon! And designer Marina Hadjilouca and Joanna have started discussing what these characters and the world they live in will look like. Now the cast have the new score and we’re excited to be exploring it with them in rehearsal this autumn and sharing some of our work with some of our friends and community partners. We’re delighted to be working some new people as well as welcoming back some friendly faces!

Welcome to our brilliant team!

 

Abigail Kelly – Adina

Born and raised in Birmingham, Abigail studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire graduating with a first class honours degree and continued her studies at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire of Scotland.

Abigail’s operatic roles include Susanna and Barbarina (The Marriage of Figaro – Mozart) English Touring Opera (ETO), Pamina (The Magic Flute – Mozart) Opera Up Close, Ninetta (La Gazza Ladra – Rossini) Midland Opera, Fido (Paul Bunyan – Britten) ETO, Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro – Mozart) Opéra de Baugé, First Boy (The Magic Flute – Mozart) ETO, First Lady (The Magic Flute – Mozart) Opera Minima, Despina (Così fan tutte – Mozart) ETO, Naiad (Rusalka – Dvořák) ETO, Cobweb (A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Britten) ETO and Adele (Die Fledermaus – Strauss)Baseless Fabric Theatre.

Digital performances since 2020 have included an operatic recital aimed for younger audiences for the Royal Albert Hall as part of their Royal Albert Home series; Shh! we have a plan, an operatic version of the children’s book by Chris Haughton with music by composer Noah Moseley (ETO); For OperaUpClose Abigail performed the title role of Sammy in Sammy and the Beanstalk, written by Robin Norton-Hale and composed by Rosabella Gregory; UNSEEN a performance project commissioned by Streetwise Opera with music by John Barber in collaboration with Streetwise Opera performers from across the UK.

Abigail directed the children’s show How to Find Your Name for ETO which toured the UK in the Spring 2022 season tour. She has subsequently directed devised performances for Turtle Key Arts and the YAM Award winning children’s opera The Wish Gatherer for ETO. This year Abigail directed part of a song cycle by Cassie Kinoshi and lydia luke for Birmingham Opera Company as part of their ‘Brum Commissions’ project and was festival Director for Streetwise Opera’s Re:Discover season.

 

Jonathan Cooke – Nemorino

Born and raised in Cheshire, versatile tenor Jonathan Cooke enjoys a varied singing career both in England and abroad. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has worked with some of the country’s biggest opera companies including Garsington, Scottish Opera, Grange Park Opera, Longborough Festival Opera and West Green House Opera.

Jonathan’s operatic rôles include divers characters such as Ruggero La Rondine (RCS), Le Mari Les Mamelles de Tiresias (RCS), Eisenstein die Fledermaus (Fulham Opera, Baseless Fabric), Squeak Billy Budd (St Endellion Summer Music Festival), Turridu, Cavalleria Rusticana (Hampstead Garden Opera, North Wales Opera Studio) Cavaradossi Tosca (Bridgetower Ensemble Opera, North Wales Opera Studio) and Lensky Eugene Onegin (Opera South East).

Outside of opera, and amongst other things, Jonathan is privileged to sing for Songhaven, a dementia-friendly concert series.

Pre-lockdown in 2020, Jonathan sang the rôle of Pinkerton in Opera Up Close’s tour of Madam Butterfly. During the pandemic, with performing opportunities sparse, he still managed to perform in socially-distanced performances of Tristan und Isolde, Tosca, and Carmen. Most recently, Jonathan returned to Kentish Opera to sing the title rôle in The Tales of Hoffmann.

 

Jack Holton – Belcore

Actor and baritone actor Jack Holton trained at GSMD and National Opera Studio, and is a Young Artist with Opera Prelude and the Musicians Company.

Jack is currently playing Julian (alternate) The Fabulist at Charing Cross Theatre.

Recent roles include Fiorello The Barber of Seville and Captor Tosca at Opera Holland Park, Henri The Runaway Royal and Guglielmo (cover) Così fan tutte at Opera North, Guglielmo Così fan tutte for Baseless Fabric, and Count Ribbing Un Ballo in Maschera for Chelsea Opera Group. Other roles include Renato Un Ballo in Maschera, Eugene Onegin, Silvio I Pagliacci, Don Giovanni and Sky Masterson Guys & Dolls.

In Spring 2025 will cover the roles of Ned Keane Peter Grimes and Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro at Opera North.

Jack is represented by Musichall Ltd

 

Alistair Sutherland – Dulcamara

A graduate from The Royal Academy of Music, Alistair was selected as a 2012 young artist with Opera Holland Park. He continues to work with OHP as a chorister and comprimario performing roles such as Second Yeoman (The Yeoman of the Guard) or Pinellino (Gianni Schicchi).

He has worked with a number of smaller touring companies, creating roles for OperaUpClose such as Schaunard (La bohème), Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) and Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore). Other roles include Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress), Smirnov (The Bear), Michele (Il Tabarro), Des Grieux (The Portrait of Manon), Sam (Trouble in Tahiti) and Bluebeard (Bluebeard’s Castle).

Alistair works regularly with organisations such as OHP Inspire, The Music Mind Spirit Trust, and Songbird incorporating music into therapeutic settings for a variety of needs. He leads regular sessions at King’s College Hospital, as well as performing for a number of care-home groups leading dementia aware song-groups, and he runs folk- music ensemble in South London.

www.alistairsutherland.com

 

Louisa Till – Violin

Louisa is an active violinist and teacher based in London. She studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Cecily Ward, James Clark and Pavel Fischer, gaining both BMus and MMus degrees. 

At the RNCM, Louisa participated in projects with the BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata and Chamber Orchestra of Europe, as well as touring internationally to Paris and Montepulciano in Italy. 

Since moving to London, Louisa has enjoyed performing with the London Mozart Players and with Baseless Fabric Theatre, for a re-imagined production of Bizet’s Carmen. She also has a keen interest in musical theatre and has performed at the London Palladium for concert performances of Camelot and Dr Zhivago. 

Louisa is passionate about her work as an educator and for the past two years has worked for Music Masters, a charity which provides access to music education for primary school children in London.

 

Ilona Suomalainen – Accordion

Originally from Helsinki, Finland, Ilona Suomalainen graduated with a Masters degree from the Royal Academy of Music in 2017, studying under professor Owen Murray. Since then, she has gone on to establish a varied and diverse career as a freelance accordionist in the UK, with recent projects including work with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, Opera Holland Park and Birmingham Opera Company. Outside of classical music, she regularly performs with the Israeli pop-jazz singer Irit Dekel, most recently supporting Caro Emerald and Lisa Stansfield on their respective UK nationwide tours.

Before moving to London, Ilona graduated from the Sibelius-Academy in Helsinki with a MMus degree studying with professors Matti Rantanen, Veli Kujala and Mika Väyrynen. In 2006, she won first-prize in the Finnish National Youth Accordion Competition and with her accordion trio, BCH, won the Chamber Music, Accordion Orchestra and Overall categories at the 2011 International Accordion Competition in Pula, Croatia. The trio also received the prize for the highest points ever awarded in the competition’s history.

A passionate teacher and educator, Ilona currently teaches accordion at the International School of London and privately across London. As part of her studies at the Sibelius-Academy, she also undertook an intensive course in specialised pedagogical training, which qualifies her to teach in educational institutions from pre-school to university.

 

Leo Geyer – Arranger/MD/Bassoon

Born in London of Anglo-Indian descent, Leo Geyer is a young composer, conductor, and presenter. He enjoys a busy and diverse career composing and conducting opera, dance, film, and concert music. He has established a reputation for his reimaginings, which creatively engage with music of the past, and is currently studying for a doctorate in opera-ballet composition as the Senior Music Scholar at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.

Leo’s music has been described by The Times as “imaginative and beautifully shaped”, and has received performances by ensembles including the English Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Rambert Dance Company and Opera North.

Leo began his conducting career at the Royal Opera House as a Cover Conductor for The Royal Ballet. Described by James Murphy, CEO of the Royal Philharmonic Society as “one of the great young British conductors to watch,” Leo has worked as a guest conductor with the BBC Concert Orchestra, English National Opera, Birmingham Contemporary Music Ensemble, the National Theatre, Ensemble 212 (USA), AUT (Denmark), and other ensembles.

​When he was 19, Leo founded an orchestra which has now grown to become Constella Music. He has brought together internationally renowned artists in numerous critically acclaimed performances across the UK. Last year, Leo began his training as a presenter on the BBC Open Music Programme with Katie Derham as his mentor. He made his debut at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra, for a BBC Proms performance broadcast live on Radio 3.

 

Joanna Turner – Director/Librettist

Joanna is Artistic Director of Baseless Fabric. She is an opera director and theatre maker with a particular passion for re-imagining classics, working in non-traditional theatre spaces and reaching new diverse audiences. Experienced working on big stages as well as in site-specific, immersive and promenade environments, Joanna places clear detailed storytelling and a focus on the relationships between characters at the heart of her work.

Recent credits include: Cosi Fan Tutte (Royal Danish Opera – Revival Director), Carmen (Arcola Theatre & Street Opera, 4 Stars Evening Standard), Die Fledermaus (Arcola Theatre & Street Opera – 4 Stars The Guardian & The Stage), Cosi Fan Tutte (Street Opera – OffWestEnd Award Finalist for Best Opera Production).

As a librettist Joanna has adapted and re-written new contemporary English librettos of The Elixir of Love, Carmen, Die Fledermaus and Cosi Fan Tutte for re-imagined productions aimed at reaching new diverse audiences performed promenade in public spaces.

Associate/Revival Director credits include work at Vlaamse Opera Belgium, New York City Opera and Opera North and as Assistant Director at Opera North, Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, Toronto Luminato Festival, Shakespeare’s Globe and Young Vic. Directors assisted include Katie Mitchell, Tim Albery and Daniel Kramer. Joanna also worked as a script reader for Liverpool Everyman and Manchester Royal Exchange including for the Bruntwood Prize, and as a youth theatre leader at the Orange Tree Theatre and Hackney Music Development Trust.

 

Marina Hadjilouca – Designer

Marina Hadjilouca - DesignerMarina Hadjilouca is an award winning Performance Designer and an Academic currently based at Rose Bruford College. As a practitioner, Marina creates Scenographic Interventions in contested public spaces and designs sets and costumes for theatrical performances and the opera. She has collaborated with major theatre organisations in the UK, Cyprus and Greece, including Arcola’s Grimeborn Festival, the National Theatre of Cyprus, and the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama.

As a researcher Marina focuses on the use of performance design as a methodology for politicised practices. Marina’s research interests lie in the synergies between social art practice and performance design. She has presented her research in conferences and symposiums in Europe and the UK and has published papers in conference proceedings. Marina is one of the curators of Performance Design Futures organised by CYCSTAT, in Cyprus.

 

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Autumn Concerts for Elderly Groups

We’re preparing for a busy autumn with both the R&D of our new adaptation of The Elixir of Love and our ever popular series of concerts for older people across South London. Based on similar concerts developed during lockdown and the following years we’ll be performing for a variety of carehomes and lunchclubs for elderly groups in Merton, Wandsworth and Croydon. The groups will be entertained with opera, musical theatre, classical songs, piano solos and old musical theatre classics for everyone to sing a long to! Hugest thanks to our funding from National Lottery Community Fund to enable us to provide these!

The team performing this autumn will be:

Felicity Buckland 

 

Felicity trained at the RNCM and on ENO’s Opera Works programme.

Felicity’s 2023/4 season appearances included Flora La Traviata at ENO (cover); Rosina The Barber of Seville (Bradford Opera Festival); Amneris Aida (Kentish Opera); Meg Page Falstaff (West Green House Opera), and concert performances of Mendelssohn Elijah and Beethoven Symphony No. 9. She has sung principal roles at ENO in both of Phelim McDermott’s celebrated productions of Philip Glass: first Kasturbai in Satyagraha, then Ankhesenpaaten in Akhnaten, and she will return to the Coliseum in early 2025 as Mary Livingstone in Thea Musgrave’s Mary, Queen of Scots.

Past operatic highlights include: Wellgunde The Rhinegold (Birmingham Opera); Carmen (Baseless Fabric Theatre/Grimeborn/Kentish Opera); Lily Porgy and Bess (Theater an der Wien); Nicklausse The Tales of Hoffmann (Kentish Opera), La Cenerentola (High Time); Olga Eugene Onegin (Opera Up Close, Opera South East); Rossweisse Die Walküre (Grange Park Opera); Beggar Woman Sweeney Todd, and Paquette Candide (West Green House Opera).

Felicity is in demand on the concert platform, and has made solo appearances for the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, at Royal Festival Hall, and with the BBC Concert Orchestra. She is also a singing tutor and experienced animateur, leading music workshops for groups of all ages and abilities across the UK.

www.felicity-buckland.com

 

Elspeth Wilkes

Elspeth Wilkes

Born in Leigh-on-sea, Essex, Elspeth studied at King’s College, London, Trinity College of Music and Royal Academy of Music. She has performed at venues including St John’s Smith Square; Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House; St Martin-in-the-Fields; Kings Place; Trafalgar Studios; Savoy Theatre, West End as well as performing recitals in Greece, Spain, Portugal, France and South Africa. Elspeth has performed at the Ravenna music festival, Italy, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival where she won the ‘Oscar’ award.

Elspeth has worked with BBC Wales, Royal Ballet, Royal Shakespeare Company and Southbank Sinfonia and has performed for HRH The Princess Royal. She also performs regularly for the charities Lost Chord Foundation and Music in Hospitals working with people suffering from dementia. Elspeth has worked as a repetiteur/musical director with many opera companies including Opera up Close (winning an Olivier award for La Boheme), Opera Brava, Merry Opera, Northern Ireland Opera, Kings Head Opera and Opera de Bauge. Elspeth is the conductor of Thurrock Choral Society and assistant conductor of Barnes Choir and is a member of the Bridgetower Ensemble.

 

Claire Wild 

 

Claire Wild attended the Royal Northern College of Music‚ sponsored by the Peter Moores Foundation and the Musicians Benevolent Fund. She won the Webster Booth Award‚ the James Oncken Song Prize and the Frost Brownson Award.      

Highlights in recent seasons include Lilli Vanessi / Katharine in Kiss Me, Kate and Elle La voix humaine for Welsh National Opera, Susanna Le nozze di Figaro for Regents Opera and Petra in A Little Night Music for Opera Project at West Green House, Welsh National Opera as Emma in Khovanshchina and Garsington Opera as Caridad The Skating Rink, a newly commissioned opera by David Sawer.

Concert repertoire includes Elijah, Messiah‚ Carmina Burana, Bach St Matthew Passion, Mozart C Minor Mass. She has performed Dallapicolla Commiato and Stravinsky Pulcinella (Royal Northern Sinfonia) and Christmas and New Year Galas (Raymond Gubbay, Orchestra of Opera North, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and London Concert Orchestra) and Messiah (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra).

 

 

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Magic potions and bus songs!

What a brilliant summer we had delivering workshops for young people at schools and for local children’s charity Jigsaw4u!

In July we provided 10 primary schools across South London with 20 workshops reaching 486 young people overall. Schools were chosen in collaboration with the local Education Hubs in Merton, Wandsworth and Croydon who know the schools well and their existing music provision to ensure we reach young people who would most benefit from the activity. 

The workshops are a fun, modern introduction to opera and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love in particular with drama games, learning about what opera is and who is involved in making it, hearing a professional opera singer sing live in front of them, acting out the story of our modern adaptation of The Elixir of Love, learning to sing some of this classic opera both as a whole group and performing solos developing their singing and acting skills.

Meanwhile, our school holidays full day workshop at Jigsaw4u followed the format of our Opera Taster Workshops in the morning, while in the afternoon (after pizza of course!) the children wrote their own new song for one of the characters. They chose words that Nemorino might say, decided on the tune by choosing one they’d learnt earlier for a warm up game and changing the words to those they’d written as well as coming up with their own actions for the song. We finished the day with a short performance for parents and other Jigsaw4u staff. We performed the section of Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love they’d learnt in the morning, warm up songs as well as the new song they’d written. You can see a short video Jigsaw4u made of the day on X at https://x.com/Jigsaw4u/status/1821872934526267511

Feedback included:

“The instructors were so energetic, enthusiastic and encouraged us amazingly! We had the best time and it has definitely turned a lot of heads towards the genre of opera.”

“Amazing! Making opera accessible and engaging for all the pupils!”

“Really changed many attitudes towards performing in front of others.”

“… it brought out the side of some children that I’ve not seen before. Some at the beginning were apprehensive and not overly excited yet at the end were singing solos!”

 

 

 

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Workshop with Jigsaw4u

We’re excited to be running a workshop over the summer holidays for the brilliant local childrens’ charity Jigsaw4u, who we’ve partnered with on a variety of projects since 2016. This summer we will be running a workshop based on our new adaptation of The Elixir of Love including teaching the group to sing a section of The Elixir of Love opera with our new modern English libretto as well writing their own new songs for the characters Nemorino and Dulcamara! We can’t wait to see what they come up with!

The team leading this workshop will be:

Naomi Kilby

Naomi Kilby trained at Birmingham Conservatoire and the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Opera work includes regular chorus and Comprimario roles for Opera Holland Park, and founding Opera Alegrìa, most recently singing Aurora in The Portrait of Manon and Pamina in The Magic Flute. In 2024, Naomi sang the title role in Handel’s Semele with Richmond Opera, and Geraldine in Barber’s A Hand Of Bridge for OHP/Opera Alegrìa. In September, she will perform The WIfe in The Parting with The Music Troupe at the Tête à Tête Opera Festival. Naomi also regularly works with OHP’s award winning Inspire outreach programme, and with the Dementia Charity, Lost Chord. A keen recitalist, Naomi has performed all over the UK and in Europe.

www.naomikilby.com

 

Elspeth Wilkes

Elspeth Wilkes

Born in Leigh-on-sea, Essex, Elspeth studied at King’s College, London, Trinity College of Music and Royal Academy of Music. She has performed at venues including St John’s Smith Square; Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House; St Martin-in-the-Fields; Kings Place; Trafalgar Studios; Savoy Theatre, West End as well as performing recitals in Greece, Spain, Portugal, France and South Africa. Elspeth has performed at the Ravenna music festival, Italy, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival where she won the ‘Oscar’ award.

Elspeth has worked with BBC Wales, Royal Ballet, Royal Shakespeare Company and Southbank Sinfonia and has performed for HRH The Princess Royal. She also performs regularly for the charities Lost Chord Foundation and Music in Hospitals working with people suffering from dementia. Elspeth has worked as a repetiteur/musical director with many opera companies including Opera up Close (winning an Olivier award for La Boheme), Opera Brava, Merry Opera, Northern Ireland Opera, Kings Head Opera and Opera de Bauge. Elspeth is the conductor of Thurrock Choral Society and assistant conductor of Barnes Choir and is a member of the Bridgetower Ensemble.

 

Joanna Turner

Joanna is an opera director and theatre maker with a particular passion for re-imagining classics, working in non-traditional theatre spaces and reaching new diverse audiences. Recent credits include: Cosi Fan Tutte (recent Baseless Fabric collaboration with Opera Holland Park), Cosi Fan Tutte (Royal Danish Opera – Revival Director), Carmen (Arcola Theatre & Street Opera, 4 Stars Evening Standard), Die Fledermaus (Arcola Theatre & Street Opera – 4 Stars The Guardian & The Stage), Cosi Fan Tutte (Street Opera – OffWestEnd Award Finalist for Best Opera Production). As a librettist Joanna has adapted and re-written new contemporary English librettos of The Elixir of Love, Carmen, Die Fledermaus and Cosi Fan Tutte for re-imagined productions aimed at reaching new diverse audiences performed promenade in public spaces.

As a workshop practitioner Joanna has created a highly successful programme of Opera Taster Workshops offered to South London schools to give young people a first experience of opera in a fun, engaging way and she also created an After School Opera Club programme, a 7 month project to give a group of young people an indepth creative experience writing and creating their own production inspired by a classic opera. She has also worked as a freelance practitioner with young people at the Orange Tree Theatre, Hackney Music Development Trust, Young Vic Theatre and directed students and non-professional adults at Leeds College of Music, Morley Opera, City Academy and University of Carlisle amongst others.

 

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Introducing our Opera Taster Workshop Team!

We’re super excited that this brilliant team will be delivering our highly successful programme of Opera Taster Workshops based around our new adaptation of Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love. In collaboration with our partners, the local music hubs – Merton Music Foundation, Wandsworth Music Service and Croydon Music & Arts – we have arranged workshops at primary schools across Merton, Wandsworth and Croydon. Over the next few weeks they will be reaching 100s of children across South London with the power of music and drama and hopefully having lots of fun with opera!

Amaarah Roze

Amaarah Roze is an international facilitator, performer, event producer and public speaker. Dedicated to creating work that explores identity, honesty and empowerment, Amaarah has worked with young people across the UK in arts, education, community, sports and corporate sectors. She has supported over 1000 young people across the country to develop their skills and celebrate their talents – on stage and off.

 

 

Louisa Tee

​​Louisa trained at the RWCMD, Trinity College of Music and ENO Opera Works. She has worked with Opera Holland Park, Raymond Gubbay and Opera UpClose working in the West End and touring the UK. Roles include Mimi in La Boheme, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Fiordiligi for Cosi Fan Tutte for Baseless Fabric and Violetta in La Traviata where she was nominated for an Off West End awards for best actress. Louisa is passionate about taking opera into schools and she is very excited to be returning to Baseless Fabric.

 

Giles Kennedy

While at school Giles’ musical upbringing was a strict diet of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, and he went on to study piano, cello and chamber music. Giles read Mathematics at Oxford and for a decade or so pursued a career in Operational Analysis and website design and development. Music was never entirely absent though, be it participating in occasional masterclasses, further studies on cello, as cellist of the SW London-based chamber ensemble Gli Amici della Musica with whom he performed many concerts, or as Director of Music at the Church of the Holy Name, Esher, and of the Arundel & Brighton Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Happily, music eventually took over and Giles now has a varied portfolio of musical engagements from solo, chamber and orchestral performing to teaching and instrumental and choral accompanying. He also co-founded the baroque ensemble Original Blend.

Lucia Martinez

Lucia is an Italian freelance performer, facilitator and producer. Graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2021, her main interest as a theatre-maker is to devise original and collaborative multidisciplinary pieces finding storytelling alternatives to the spoken word. She is passionate about connecting local creatives and utilising art as a commentary on societal and contemporary issues, spreading awareness on untold stories. Co-founder of the collective JunkJunkie, she has discovered the power of working for and within a community and making theatre accessible to all, focusing on the transformational power of the arts.

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Cosi in the Sunshine!

We had a fantastic time at Opera Holland Park’s brilliant Open Day a few weeks ago collaborating again on our adaptation of Cosi Fan Tutte. In the brilliant sunshine we gathered wonderful audiences to enjoy a bit of Mozart’s comedy in our updated BF style. Huge thanks to our fab cast, Fran Hills on piano, Leo Geyer, Constella for the arrangement with Joanna Turner‘s libretto, and the Opera Holland Park‘s team for organising.

After Cosi we also enjoyed a huge variety of other activities – concerts, craft activities, dance, stage combat and lighting workshops and the (growing up) Opera Toddlers were particularly focussed in the conducting workshop! Watch out Leo Geyer! 

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Banana songs & vegetable games…

What a brilliant week we had for our 3 Skills Sharing Workshops last week! We partnered again with Southwark Playhouse to offer drama and music practitioners a workshop on opera and our process of delivering opera workshops in primary schools and how their skills may be transferable to working in opera, while also partnering with Opera Holland Park to offer a workshop to opera singers in facilitating workshops for young people and how their opera skills can be used in this area. The workshops were intended to be a fun and useful experience in sharing skills and developing artists’ skillsets as well as enabling us to meet new practitioners to work with in the future.

A huge thank you to partners Southwark Playhouse and Opera Holland Park, funding from Arts Council England and all the brilliant practitioners who took part. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas, silly games, tips and tricks for working with young people and introducing them to opera in a fun accessible way! We had so much fun, enjoyed sharing our ideas and learning from so many of your brilliant ideas. Not to mention some excellent and very silly games…!

 

 

 

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