Opera North newsletters

With details of Refugee Week and more:

Why we're a Theatre of Sanctuary Stories, memories and songs...      It's Refugee Week 2020, and we invite you to join us in looking back on some amazing music created in partnership with refugees and refugee organisations over the last few years, and hear the story of how we became a Theatre of Sanctuary... Our People’s Lullabies project features participants of our Community Partnerships Scheme including Mary performing a traditional Nigerian song, and Thomas singing an Eritrean pop song. Watch this space as we extend this incredible project out to more of our community partners later in the year! Theatre of Sanctuary Eighteen months ago we became the first opera company in the country to be awarded Theatre of Sanctuary status in recognition of our ongoing work to ensure refugees and asylum seekers feel valued, celebrated and included. Working with our communities Go behind the scenes with Alice Gilmour from our Community Partnerships team to find out about the role performing arts can play in engaging with communities across Leeds, and how they have coped with COVID-19. Sparking imaginations... To mark Refugee Week, Arts Together have launched a photography project with refugee and asylum seeker members of Mafwa Theatre. A series of portraits will be produced revealing the role of imagination in the lives of people looking to make their home in Leeds. We can’t wait to share them with you! Watch online... We hope you are enjoying our weekly delivery of fun, light-hearted content! Check out our website for online access to some of our productions and performances. If you use social media, follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtag #OperaNorthAtHome. Opera North Ltd.  46 New Briggate Leeds LS1 6NU Box Office: 0113 223 3600 Registered Charity No. 511726 © Opera North 2020

Supporting UK-based BAME music-makers 'Can I call on Baba Bach and my ancestors to collaborate in the same space?' — Abel Selaocoe, cellist    As both a classical musician and an African musician, Abel Selaocoe asks 'Where is home?' As part of his Opera North Resonance residency, the award-winning cellist worked on music influenced by different stringed instruments from the African continent.    Our Resonance scheme, launched in 2017, offers time, space and resources for professional artists from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds working in any musical genre to develop new ideas. This week we announce the six exciting projects selected for the Lockdown Edition of the scheme, where ideas and collaborations will evolve under current social distancing and travel regulations... Explore Resonance From classically-trained singer Keertan Kaur Rehal bringing traditional South Asian art-song into the 21st century, to an innovative multi-sensory performance for the eyes, ears and nose from Thabo, the Resonance scheme encourages artists to take their work in new directions and to experiment with collaborators and new ideas. From Resonance to world premiere... Following on from his work on an early Resonance project, Jasdeep Singh Degun premiered his concerto for sitar and orchestra, Arya, with the Orchestra of Opera North in February. Explore the power and universality of music as Jasdeep recounts his influences, and experience of working on Arya. Watch online... We hope you are enjoying our weekly delivery of fun, light-hearted content! Check out our website for online access to some of our productions and performances. If you use social media, follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtag #OperaNorthAtHome. Opera North Ltd.  46 New Briggate Leeds LS1 6NU Box Office: 0113 223 3600 Registered Charity No. 511726 © Opera North 2020

... with just one small action Hello Karen,      Over the last few weeks many of you have reached out to show your support and ask how you can help Opera North. Whether you’ve sent us a kind message on social media, watched one of our #OperaNorthAtHome videos, purchased a ticket for our 2020/21 season, or even sent a donation, we just wanted to say a big thank you!        There's just one more small thing you can do to show your support for Opera North during this challenging time - update your contact preferences to hear more from us. We’d love to keep you in the loop about what your support is helping us to achieve, but we need your permission! If you’d like to hear more about our wider programme of work, our fundraising efforts and the exciting projects we’ve got coming up, make sure you’re opted in to our ‘support’ communications by email. All you need to do is log into your account, click ‘Contact Preferences’ and make sure you have selected the line that says 'I would like to hear about opportunities to get closer to the company’s work and support Opera North and the Howard Assembly Room'. We look forward to telling you all about what we have planned! Opera North Ltd.  46 New Briggate Leeds LS1 6NU Box Office: 0113 223 3600 Registered Charity No. 511726 © Opera North 2020

Creating extraordinary experiences. Every day. Dear Karen Naylor,                At Opera North we are now moving to a new phase of responding to the COVID crisis. The past weeks have been dominated by responding to the immediate fallout of this situation and readying ourselves to weather the long-term financial impact that we know is coming. We are incredibly grateful to you: our supporters, funders and audiences, who have stood by us in this uncertain time. As we look ahead, it is important that we ask ourselves a simple question: what do we stand for?  If we are to survive, adapt and flourish, we need to be clear what this Company exists to do. The answer we have come back to is simple: To create extraordinary experiences. Every day. Live or digitally, in classrooms, theatres, homes and public spaces; we will continue to share music with people of all ages and backgrounds. To ensure we stay true to this very simple core purpose, we have set out our key priorities and I wanted to share those with you. As we plan, we also want to ask you, our valued audience, what will you look for in music in the coming months? To start this conversation we’d be grateful if you could complete this short survey. Yours sincerely,        Richard Mantle OBE Opera North General Director Your lockdown favourites so far... The ultimate TV binge You don't need to subscribe to a streaming service to watch our most popular series. Our acclaimed staging of Richard Wagner's epic 15-hour masterpiece the Ring cycle is available to watch in full, for free.  2020: An Isolation Odyssey Lockdown did not stop the Orchestra of Opera North playing together! When our concert performances of Strauss’ 'Also sprach Zarathustra' were cancelled, players from the orchestra decided that the show must go on – virtually. Something to look forward to... #CultureInQuarantine This week we announced our new commission for BBC Arts and Arts Council England's Culture in Quarantine programme: Walking Home: Sound Journeys for Lockdown. Five artists will write and record new works specifically to be listened to whilst walking. Watch online... We hope you are enjoying our weekly delivery of fun, light-hearted content! Check out our website for online access to some of our productions and performances. If you use social media, follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtag #OperaNorthAtHome. Opera North Ltd.  46 New Briggate Leeds LS1 6NU Box Office: 0113 223 3600 Registered Charity No. 511726 © Opera North 2020

Music that transports you to a different place This week’s easing of lockdown regulations means that many of us can spend a little more time outdoors, and take advantage of the warmer weather and quiet roads. It’s the perfect opportunity to grab your headphones and get immersed in our round-up of playlists, sound walks and films exploring the connections between music and landscape. Span the entire 2,200 metres of the Humber Bridge with The Height of the Reeds, a spine-tingling sound journey demonstrating that even bridges can make music! Hear the vast sound of the Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North weave through the deep music of the Bridge itself. Explore the making of this epic installation or listen to the album version on Spotify.   Whether you choose to travel to the banks of the River Tyne with Aeons (sign up to Martin Green's mailing list to download an excerpt), or discover the wildlife sounds on the enchanted island of Hy Brasil, our sound journeys are there for you to experience wherever, whenever and however you choose. What sounds and music do you hear on your walks? Share with us on Facebook or Twitter and use the hashtag #OperaNorthAtHome. #IsolationArias Embark on a musical adventure with Jo Nockels, Head of Projects at Opera North. Jo shares her lockdown listening with one rule: that all the pieces should take her somewhere else – whether by voice alone, narrative or the sense of place they make in her imagination. Musical landscapes For our Music Director designate, Garry Walker, Sibelius' Sixth Symphony begins in the Great Pine Forest of Caledonia. In the first in a series of 'Open Air Arias', Garry discusses what makes Sibelius such a natural companion for being outdoors. Whisked away to Winestead Opera North commission Winestead features tonight at 6pm as part of Music in the Round's digital festival, Sheffield Chamber Music Festival at home. Composer Gavin Bryars took inspiration from the eerie landscape of Holderness and Spurn Point and the life and poetry of Andrew Marvell to create this mesmerising work for tenor, viola, electric guitar, cello and organ. Watch online... We hope you are enjoying our weekly delivery of fun, light-hearted content! Check out our website for online access to some of our productions and performances. If you use social media, follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtag #OperaNorthAtHome. Opera North Ltd.  46 New Briggate Leeds LS1 6NU Box Office: 0113 223 3600 Registered Charity No. 511726 © Opera North 2020