HARROW OPERA is affiliated to the National Operatic and Dramatic Association, and is a registered charity. Our previous association with the Harrow Adult Education Service, prior to its reorganisation, indicates our prime purpose which is for the education of our members, and the public, in the art of opera. Whilst aiming to present both staged and concert performances to the highest level possible, Harrow Opera provides opportunities for its members to develop their skills as both actors and singers.
A number of our former members have progressed into the profession and are singing with English National Opera, the Royal Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Welsh National Opera and the BBC Singers. Most notably the celebrated international bass, Alastair Miles, sang his first Tutor role in Rossini’s The Count Ory with the group while still a student in 1985.
We aim to put on one fully-staged production a year and a number of concerts and recitals. We participate each year in the Harrow Arts Festival and also perform out of the borough, in Hillingdon, Camden and Westminster. We are always keen to hear from Clubs, Societies or Charities interested in hosting concerts or recitals by members of the group.
NEW MEMBERS are always welcome, singers of all standards and in all voices. e are also keen to hear from anyone interested in scene design, lighting, costumes, publicity or any other aspect of opera production. Harrow Opera rehearses regularly on Thursday evenings from 7.30 pm at the Harrow Arts Centre in Hatch End.
Please feel free to come along and see us at any time or contact us by emailing info@harrowopera.co.uk
THE STORY BEGAN in January 1971 when Oliver Broome started Harrow Opera Workshop as a class of the then Harrow College of Further Education, working in a small classroom with eight students. In March 1973 the group ventured its first production of Act 1 of Delibe’s Lakme and Act 2 of Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore, with piano accompaniment, at the Harrow College of Technology and Art (now the University of Westminster). The following year Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and Lortzing’s The Opera Rehearsal were staged and, since then, full productions, usually with orchestra, have been given nearly every year.
Previous Productions
As a glance at our list of operas will show, we have frequently explored the lesser known repertoire. Following our production of Offenbach’s Daphnis & Chloe in 1976, BBC Radio invited the company to record the work, and broadcasted it twice. In fact Offenbach has proved a popular composer and Robinson Crusoe in 1995 was the sixth of his works to be staged by us. This production was directed by Bill Bankes-Jones of English National Opera who created a magical entertainment with just 25 performers and 25 chairs. We have not, however, neglected the mainstream repertoire and included in the list are such popular works as Mozart’s The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, Verdi's Falstaff and La Traviata and Strauss' Die Fledermaus.
