In Harmony Opera North engages over 2500 children and young people every week.
Delivering an inclusive programme of high quality music education and performance opportunities, In Harmony Opera North encourages young people from all backgrounds to engage with the arts and benefit from a range of personal, social and musical outcomes.
The programme promotes musical excellence and provides development pathways for committed and enthusiastic young people to realise their musical potential, but In Harmony Opera North is more than a music programme: at its heart the programme supports the development of a strong sense of community which feels connected to the wider company of Opera North and the work that it creates and presents.
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In Harmony is currently taking place at six primary schools in Leeds and Halifax, and one secondary school in Leeds.
Since Spring 2013, In Harmony Opera North has centred around the children and community of Windmill Primary School in Belle Isle, south Leeds. In September 2015 Low Road Primary School in Hunslet was absorbed into the programme.
It was then extended to New Bewerley Community School, Beeston, in September 2016, with Richmond Hill Academy in Cross Green becoming the fourth In Harmony school in September 2018.
Between 2019 and 2022, In Harmony Opera North ran after school sessions at The Ruth Gorse Academy. 2019 also saw the start of a two-year collaboration with The Stephen Longfellow Academy, which works with students who are struggling to maintain a full-time place in mainstream education.
In 2022, two new primary schools joined the programme – Clapgate Primary School in Belle Isle and Lee Mount Primary School in Halifax – as well as a secondary school – Trinity Academy Leeds – where In Harmony runs an afterschool setting.