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The History of W11 Opera

About W11 Opera

Unique amongst opera companies, W11 Opera for Young People casts only school-age singers for each new opera it commissions every year. Entirely professionally produced, the performances are a stunningly unusual musical event. No other opera company regularly commissions a world première specifically for a cast of this age-group. Nor has any other built a repertoire of such diverse music and themes. Nearly three thousand teenagers and children have appeared in our productions to date. In their early days Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Eve (Emily) Best, Saskia Wickham, Evelyn Glennie, and Wayne Marshall are amongst those now famous in the arts world who have been involved with W11 productions.

Since Summer 2001 W11 has been asked to provide the children’s chorus when required during the Holland Park Opera Season.  Cast members have benefited from the amazing experience of performing on stage in this wonderful setting with professionals in Carmen (2001), I Pagliacci (2002), Tosca, Werther, and L’Arlesiana (2003), La Bohème and Norma (2004), Macbeth (2005), and Così Fan Tutte (2006).

The Trust has a policy of offering sponsorship (partial or full) to qualified children who need financial support to participate in the opera. Since 2003 W11 has also enjoyed a special association with Avondale Extra, who sponsors three or four young cast members each year. The aim is to identify and encourage talented music students at a local school, Avondale Primary, who would not otherwise have this extra-curricular opportunity.

In 2000 the Trust initiated a community development programme by inviting disadvantaged groups of adults or children to a non-paying performance, who for whatever reason, have been excluded from participation in or enjoyment of the performing arts.

The Birth of W11 Opera

W11Opera was founded by a string teacher, Serena Hughes, in W11 with the conductor Nicholas Kraemer when they put on Britten's Noye's Fludde in 1971. The cast included 100 local children. The exhilaration of that first production led to the development of the Opera together with the vision and drive of both Timothy and Nicholas Kraemer. Regular commissioning began in 1972 when it became apparent that there was scarcely any repertoire for the 9-18 age group.

Nicholas Kraemer

Click to read some of Nicholas Kraemer’s memories of W11 Opera’s early years.

W11 Opera - current and future

Today the Opera still pursues the policy of hiring a professional music and production team whilst retaining the original ethos of relying on skills and time given by parents. A core team of administrators, all volunteers, plan productions and commission three years in advance. The scale of the Opera together with a three month rehearsal period ensure a standard of performance which no one school can match within a normal timetable.

The Opera, a registered charity, costs £60,000 to put on and it is not eligible either for Arts Council funding or for Lottery funding. Yet it has commissioned more Operas since 1971 than any major opera company in the UK!

In 2001, the high standard of the opera was finally rewarded by an invitation to perform at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, for the new commission by Graham Preskett and John Kane, Flying High.

Although rehearsals and previews still take place in W11 Opera's “home”, St. James's Church, since 2003 the main performances have been at the Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music. The benefits of the venue for both cast and audience are so immense that it is hoped it will be possible to bring the annual production to the Britten for many years to come.