Can you tell us about your role at OHP?
I’ve joined Opera Holland Park to manage the Inspire programme which is our outreach and education work within the community. I’m responsible for creating our outreach strategy and designing and delivering a programme of work in the community.

What did you do before you started here?
I’ve been fortunate to have a weird and wonderful career so far. I started my career in management consulting, working mainly in the public sector on large scale transformation programmes. After a few years I left to complete my Masters in Music Theatre, during which I was teaching music and performing arts in primary schools across London alongside working as a singer and actor. I then worked briefly at an EdTech company, before joining OHP in October this year.

As a relatively new member of the team, have you had any highlights so far?
So many! Our gala dinner was a lot of fun and it was great to meet many of our members and supporters. The Christmas concert was fantastic and such a treat to hear our amazing OHP Chorus do what they do best. And of course our Inspire Christmas Extravaganza Day where we took 8 of our OHP singers and a repetiteur around various care homes, NHS hospitals and community centres bringing some Christmas joy to the community. It is so rewarding to be able to see the impact of our work and meet so many wonderful people.

Do you have any exciting plans for the future of Inspire and what it might look like?
Absolutely! 2024 will be an exciting year for Inspire including many concerts in the community, music making sessions with a learning disability centre, continuing to run our Intergenerational Choir in collaboration with AgeUK, running a new shadowing programme with a local college where young people will be invited in to experience the workings of an opera company, our Schools Matinee performance of The Barber of Seville and in-school workshops, and much more!

At a time when the arts and opera are under financial strain, why do you believe it is important to continue our Outreach and Education work?
Arts outreach work is nothing but essential. Music in particular brings so much joy to people, it makes life worth living. We do outreach work at OHP not to tick a box, but because we truly believe in the huge impact it makes to those we work with. It’s magical to see the effect it can have – seeing dementia patients, some of whom haven’t spoken in weeks, suddenly remember all the words to a song; watching young people light up when they experience their first show and realise that one day they could be on the stage themselves; speaking to the hard working NHS staff about how it brightens their day when we visit. Music brings joy and it brings people together – the power of that can’t be underestimated.

You are a singer yourself – as well as enhancing the lives of the people you visit, what impact does this work have for musicians?
We’re so lucky to have a huge number of fantastic OHP singers, musicians and creatives involved in our Inspire programme. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to share your passion and talents with members of the community, especially in a more intimate setting. Singing in our 800+ seat theatre is, of course, a fantastic experience, but singing to 10 dementia patients and seeing how much it means to them can be equally as special in a different way. I also truly believe outreach work makes you an all round better performer. Having been involved in outreach work as a performer myself, it teaches you flexibility and the ability to perform in all sorts of settings as well as the art of storytelling and human connection.

What do you think are the key factors to making opera and classical more accessible?
Firstly, definitely bringing opera into the community, which is something we focus on in Inspire. Showing people that opera, at its heart, is storytelling and that appeals to everyone no matter your age or background. Our many subsidised ticket schemes including under 18s, over 65s, those with access requirements, local public service workers and many others are designed to give people the opportunity to experience opera who might otherwise not be able to. We were the first opera company in London to introduce live Audio Description facilities which we continue to do annually, allowing people from the visually impaired community to experience our productions, as part of our Discovery Matinee relaxed performances. There’s also a huge amount of work to be done with levelling the playing field within music education which is something I’m particularly passionate about. Without opportunities to engage with music, many young people’s talents will never be discovered and we lose out on a generation of future theatre makers.

What would you say to someone considering supporting the Inspire programme? 
I would say that your support makes a huge difference to the lives of so many. It allows us to bring our work to those who can’t come to our theatre, and has such a significant impact on their lives. We are so grateful for all our supporters helping us to continue to deliver this vital work.

 

Interview by Lucy Hicks Beach