Opera Plus

Jackdaws OperaPLUS brings together a team of opera singers and school children to create performances of classic operas, semi-staged and sung in English.

Opera – The Singers

A company of professional singers work alongside the production team, Jackdaws Artistic Director, Saffron van Zwanenberg and Audrey Hyland, to create an accessible inclusive performance and lead workshops and rehearsals before performing alongside the children in a large community show.

PLUS – The Children

A unique feature of the OperaPLUS project is that singers work with local Somerset schools in workshops and then they all perform together to an audience of family and friends, giving children the chance to be a part of the magical performance. Providing a unique platform for the performers to gain skills and experience and offering children exposure to what is usually a new medium and the opportunity to experience opera first-hand.

Previous Years

In the past, the project has produced performances of the The Team Mascot (also known as Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment), Handel’s Semele, Cinderella (La Cenerentola – Rossini) and Mozart’s Magic Flute and Così fan Tutte.

On 25 February 2016, Jackdaws was presented with the Music Teacher Magazine Award for Excellence for Best Classical Music Education Initiative” for OperaPLUS. We want to thank everybody who voted and supports our Education work. This is a huge achievement and means a lot to us.