Samling Academy Opera brings the thrill and passion of live opera to venues across North East England with fully-staged productions starring the region’s finest young singers.
Each opera is created by an experienced production team who guide the cast through the art of bringing a role to life through music whilst making sure that their developing voices are appropriately cared for. It offers our Samling Academy Singers their first taste of performing in a professional opera, with costumes, movement, dance, lighting and props. It has inspired young singers to explore this artform further – over half of the cast of our first Samling Academy Opera are now singing professionally in opera houses across Europe, with others following in their footsteps.
Samling Academy Opera draws on the expertise of our professional Samling Artist Programme, with Samling Artists acting as directors, musical directors and accompanists. A Samling Artist singer is also included in the cast, to mentor and inspire the younger singers. In recent years, Samling Academy Opera has worked with conductor John Butt and his period instrument Dunedin Consort, Royal Opera House choreographer Mandy Demetriou and lighting designer Alex Edwards.
Header image: Ana Fernández Guerra in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Samling Academy Opera 2015. Photo credit: Mark Pinder
