Support Us W11 Opera receives no public funding. We depend upon the generous financial support of families, friends and benefactors to commission and revive productions, run school workshops, hire the creative team, stage community performances and provide bursaries for children who could not otherwise be part of W11. We need your help to keep this going and Read More ...
W11 and the Community W11 Opera has always taken immense pride in its strong links with the local community in and around West London. In recent years W11 has extended its reach in three principal ways. It has staged Community Performances for school children, the elderly, the disadvantaged and the disabled, which are always warmly received with Read More ...
2016 – The Price Music by Russell Hepplewhite Libretto by Helen Eastman Commissioned by W11 Opera in 2016 Liberty has a price. And someone paid that price for you. These days we tend to take for granted those rights which were earned the hard way through struggle and sacrifice. This year’s W11 Opera brings politics alive Read More ...
W11 Opera’s History W11 Children’s Opera was founded in 1971 by local Holland Park parents, particularly a music teacher, Serena Hughes and the conductor Nicholas Kraemer, wishing to stage an opera for young people each Christmas. What makes the venture unique is the size of the large cast of around 90 children and young people Read More ...
Since it was founded in 1971 W11 Opera for Children and Young People has commissioned and produced 34 new operas, more than any other UK company, providing a rich repertoire for its cast of 9 to 18 year old children and young people. Our productions are staged each year with auditions in September, rehearsing at St. James Norlands Church, London W11 through to the performances in December, which from 2006 to 2012 were at the iconic Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. In 2013 we moved to the Posk Theatre in King Street, Hammersmith, where we successfully continued with our high production standards, again enjoyed by an audience of over 1,000, including our Community performance. If you would like to come to see this year’s production, tickets will be available from October.
Our long term mission is to create a workable repertoire of through-sung pieces that can be staged by schools and community groups. A W11 commission is as likely to hail from the rock, jazz or musical comedy genres as it is to embrace many-layered contemporary classical writing. We have been in Ancient Greece, India, China, Africa; we have set foot in the mountains of Wales, Prussia and the New World. We have been inside computer games and anthills; we have fought epic battles at the bottom of the sea and the back room of a corner shop. We have travelled from Waterloo Station to the end of the universe. And every year our young cast has gone home inspired, excited and with their imaginations fizzing.
If you are interested in auditioning to sing and perform in our next Opera, please look at W11 Life to find out what it is like to be involved in a production. If you require financial support, help is available.
W11 Opera has a strong community base in the West London area and provides a unique opportunity for young people and children from all backgrounds to become involved in opera. It is also an invaluable showcase for contemporary composers and directors.
Please explore our website to find out more about W11 Opera, said to be “one of the best kept secrets in the opera world”. If you are inspired to offer sponsorship or would like to discuss composing a new work for our cast in the future do contact us at w11@w11opera.org.
Visit our online archive of productions from Past Years to learn more about W11 Opera’s unique achievements. Read synopses and reviews, see pictures of the productions, watch videos and listen to the music.