Little Singers

Opera North Early Years Programme
Suitable for 0 - 4 years

Sing songs, explore instruments, play games and have fun with music in our weekly sessions. Sessions aim to support the development and well-being of children under the age of 4 and their families through high-quality musical experiences and activities.

Led by a professional musician, all workshops introduce live singing and music-making in a fun and creative environment suitable for all babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers with their grown-ups.

We also run Little Singers sessions (for 0-4s) in other areas of Leeds and Yorkshire:

For more information, contact Alex Bradshaw on alex.bradshaw@operanorth.co.uk

I love bringing my child; the space is beautiful and has a lovely atmosphere. It is brilliant that we have the chance to sing with a professional vocal artist. Coming to the sessions have given me more confidence to sing with my child at home.

— Little Singers parent

Follow our Little Singers playlist:

ON After Hours: Songs and Sonnets

Brush up your Shakespeare this spring with the ON After Hours Chorus as they explore some varied Shakespearean repertoire in celebration of the return to the stage of Kiss Me, Kate, Cole Porter’s witty retelling of The Taming of the Shrew.

Rehearsals will be led by friendly professional artists who will help you to learn operatic and choral pieces inspired by the Bard’s works, in preparation for a relaxed performance in front of family and friends on Monday 23 July.

To take part, you will need some experience of singing and be able to follow a music score.

Lankum

A four-piece traditional folk group from Dublin, Ireland, Lankum (formerly known as Lynched) brilliantly combine distinctive four-part vocal harmonies with arrangements of uillean pipes, concertina, Russian accordion, fiddle and guitar.

Their repertoire spans humorous Dublin music-hall ditties and street songs, classic ballads, traditional Irish and American dance tunes and their own original material.

Marrying ‘the rawness of The Watersons with the roar of Richard Dawson’ Lankum play a brand of folk music that is ‘urgent, desperate and detonating’ (The Guardian).

They are touring in support of their critically acclaimed album Between the Earth and Sky.

Brilliant, raw detonating folk

The Guardian

Orchestra of Opera North: Vaughan Williams, Salieri, Beethoven

The Orchestra of Opera North's first outing at Doncaster's CAST with a sparkling summer programme.

Andrew Long - Violin
Kevin Gowland - Flute
Richard Hewitt - Oboe
Howard Shelley - Conductor

Ranked at no. 1 on the Classic FM Hall of Fame, we’re delighted to begin the concert with a popular classic; Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. This evocative score paints the scenic landscape of the rolling British countryside and is simply breath-taking when heard live.

Described by The Guardian as ‘a radical work, … spine-tingling and life-enhancingly joyful’, Beethoven’s spell-binding Symphony No. 6 ‘Pastoral’ follows, before the concert concludes with Salieri’s delightful Flute and Oboe Concerto in C major, a playful piece that dances throughout the sections and is sure to enchant.

…the orchestral playing is first-class… something very special indeed

— **** Daily Telegraph on Die Walküre 

Institute of Psychoanalysis: Northern Summer School

The Institute of Psychoanalysis and Opera North present an introduction to key concepts in psychoanalysis in a two-day Summer School.

This exciting collaboration will bring psychoanalytic ideas to life by exploring the shared territories between psychoanalysis, opera and other performing arts, with their shared aim of telling stories with emotional intensity and meaning that have the potential to transform.

This is a unique opportunity to take part in a dialogue between performers, directors and psychoanalysts to explore the synergy between the two disciplines.

Learn about psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic interpretation and what becoming a psychoanalyst involves.

Explore performance as interpretation, the complexities of performing violence and psychoanalysis and film.

The Northern Summer School is open to everyone, including current undergraduate and postgraduate students from any discipline or background.

Visit the Institute of Psychoanalysis website for the full programme and further information.

Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill

Step into the glamorous world of cabaret as we celebrate one of the greatest, most influential musical theatre composers of the 20th Century. 

A co-production with West Yorkshire Playhouse in association with City Varieties Music Hall

Join us on an exhilarating tour of highlights from the Kurt Weill songbook, from the smoky cafés of 1920s Berlin to the Broadway stages of the 1940s.

Weill’s show-stopping hits include standards such as ‘Mack the Knife’ and ‘September Song’ and a host of other numbers made famous by artists ranging from Sinatra to Bowie, from Streisand to Simone. 

Directed by one of the most inspirational figures in British theatre, Giles Havergal, whose work for Opera North includes popular hits The Barber of Seville and The Merry Widow, this unique show features a fabulous ensemble of singers drawn from the award-winning Chorus of Opera North, stars of Opera North’s acclaimed productions of Carousel and Into the Woods. Together they’ll bring you a cabaret of delights in the atmospheric surroundings of Leeds’ beautiful Victorian music hall, the City Varieties.

Music by Kurt Weill
Lyrics by Maxwell Anderson / Bertolt Brecht / Michael Feingold / Paul Green / Alan Jay Lerner / George Tabori / Marc Blitzstein / Jacques Deval / Ira Gershwin / Langston Hughes / Ogden Nash / Arnold Weinstein
Text and Format by Gene Lerner
Musical arrangements by Newton Wayland
Originally directed by Donald Saddler
Originally produced by Gene Lerner and Hank Kaufman
Performed by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited