When Opera North returns to The Lowry for its autumn tour, it is looking to engage new audiences by taking opera and classical music into the local community.
On Wednesday November 11, to increase accessibility for people who might otherwise feel intimidated by opera, the Company will be running two interactive introductions in the Aldridge Studio 1 to one of this season’s productions, Janáček’s Jenůfa.
To introduce this challenging work to a wider audience, the hour-long Jenůfa workshop will be held at 2:30PM for adults and at 4:30PM for secondary school and FE students. Both sessions will explore the story and characters, with the audiences advising actor Anthony Haddon and musician Sylvia Hallett on how they think the plot should develop.
Everyone is then invited to attend Opera North’s performance that evening at The Lowry to discover how the production really ends.
The following day, Thursday 12 November, it is the turn of classical music as members of the Orchestra of Opera North visit Muirhead Court, a sheltered housing project providing accommodation for older people in Salford.
In spring 2016, Opera North’s work with local schools continues, with students in Salford given the chance to experience an orchestral presentation of the story of Wagner’s Ring condensed into an hour and a half hour ‘whistlestop’ version of Donizetti’s opera The Elixir of Love.