Opera North - an arts company with international appeal and its roots in Yorkshire

We are, however, where we are. Fortunately for me Yorkshire is theatrically blessed like no other region. Today we land at not a theatre building, but a company.

One of the reasons Yorkshire can easily claim to be the UK’s best and most well-served region for the arts outside of London is the differing scales of work and venues.

Take, for example, this week’s destination: Opera North, one of a number of internationally recognised companies based in the region.

“Our aim is to create extraordinary experiences every day, using music and opera to entertain, engage, challenge and inspire,” says Richard Mantle, general director of Opera North.

“Opera is at the heart of what we do, but we offer the most diverse artistic programme of any opera company in this country. Last year we presented activity and performance in 75 different venues of all shapes and sizes, from theatres and concert halls to community centres and village halls, across the North of England and beyond.”

If you want a sophisticated night out at the theatre in all your finery, Opera North at Leeds Grand is it. Mantle is aware of the responsibility of making his an artform available to all. “Opera can and should be for anyone – it is an incredibly varied and powerful artform which marries the immediacy of theatrical storytelling with the emotional depth of music to create one of the most thrilling genres of live performance.

Everyone is welcome – there’s no dress code, we make sure tickets are available at affordable prices and we always use English titles if a production is sung in another language. We are also proud to be the first opera company named as a Theatre of Sanctuary in recognition of our engagement work with refugees and people seeking asylum.”

Opera North’s not necessarily what you think it is. “We are a company that takes artistic risks – opera is a living, evolving artform and we will continue to innovate and diversify, presenting work in new ways to speak to contemporary audiences. The Covid-19 crisis means this drive to innovate is more important than ever, as we seek new ways to create and share music with people throughout the region.”

Because it is an internationally touring company with an impressive reputation Opera North has in the past seemed to have occasionally forgotten that it is also, for us, a local company of which we are rightly very proud. Collaborating as it has done with Leeds Playhouse, supplying musicians for Into the Woods and even giving the directing duties over to Playhouse artistic director James Brining for last year’s The Magic Flute, it feels like the company has acknowledged its Yorkshire roots of late.

Mantle says: “We are a touring company, but we are rooted in Leeds. Most of our large scale operatic work premieres at Leeds Grand Theatre or Leeds Town Hall, but since 2009 we have also programmed the 300-seat Howard Assembly Room, bringing some of the best and most varied artists from around the world to perform in Leeds.

For me, Opera North has always been a beacon of inspiration and innovation since it was founded back in 1978, initially as a regional subsidiary of English National Opera, which is where I began my opera career. So, I was closely involved in those early years of English National Opera North and subsequently its independence as Opera North and that time introduced me to Leeds and West Yorkshire. My decision to join the company in 1994 was a very easy one to make.

“To forge a new full-time touring opera company took courage, determination, imagination and a pioneering spirit and I would like to think that those attributes have stayed with the company over these past 40 years and I have always attempted to foster a ‘can do’ attitude at our heart. It remains a privilege for me to lead a company of such talented artists, musicians, craftspeople and colleagues.”

From 2011 to 2014, the company staged concert performances of the cycle of Wagner’s Ring operas, and six complete cycles of the four operas in 2016, something Mantle calls ‘defining’. There have been many highlights in 40 years, with Phyllida Lloyd directing La Bohème, Britten’s Gloriana and Peter Grimes all to great acclaim. Then there are the classic musicals like Carousel, Showboat and Kiss Me, Kate.

“Opera North is a vital hub in the creative industries in the North, permanently employing over 230 people, including a highly specialist technical staff, chorus and orchestra as well as freelance singers, musicians, dancers, directors, choreographers and designers. We collaborate with innumerable organisations in Yorkshire and across the North, from artistic collaborations with our colleagues at Leeds Playhouse and Phoenix Dance Theatre, to partnerships with the higher education sector (notably the University of Leeds and Leeds College of Music), venues across the region, schools and more than 100 local community groups.

“We are currently in the middle of a significant £18 million redevelopment programme, Music Works. We are now planning to reopen the Howard Assembly Room and our new Howard Opera Centre in 2021. Live performance is at the heart of what we do, and of course we hope to return to performing in theatres and concert halls as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Opera North’s innovative new season

Having postponed the opera seasons for Autumn 2020 and Winter 2021, a new season of artistic activity is being devised by Opera North. It will include a range of live musical and operatic performances and innovative digital events for audiences in Leeds and across the North, including an interactive outdoor soundwalk for Leeds, for audiences to experience through headphones on a route through the city.

For more information about Opera North’s present, past and future projects and to view some of their work online, visit operanorth.co.uk

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