“Exhilarating, an experience brimming with life!” Opera Participant
Experience the thrill and excitement of being part of a fully-staged opera production, led by professional creative teams and world-class opera singers, as well as a full orchestra. Whether you’ve never seen an opera before, are an opera fan but never trodden the boards yourself, or are a seasoned singer we would love to have you join us as part of our community chorus.
Blackheath Halls Opera has been producing operas annually since 2007, involving members of our community of all ages (including children as young as 8), professional opera singers and production teams, and students from our parent organisation Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance. It is a unique project that brings together performers from all walks of life to create high-quality operas accompanied by a full orchestra.
Blackheath Halls Opera 2025: Iphigenia in Tauris, directed by Laura Attridge and conducted by Chris Stark.
Blackheath Halls Opera returns for another year with a cast of over 100 singers and musicians of all ages from our local area, performing together with a cast of exceptional professional singers.
German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Iphigenia in Tauris is a Greek drama which blends both emotional beauty and intensity in a tale of fate, redemption and the enduring strength of familial bonds.
‘I know of no chorus as gifted at suggesting the all-walks-of-life nature of a story’s observers and participants as the Chorus – or rather, choruses – of Blackheath Halls Opera. That is because the women, men and children of the choruses genuinely are from all walks of life, and it is their diversity as well as their musical input that makes their big numbers so impressive…This was congregational singing at its most heartfelt, and incredibly moving.‘ – Culture Whisper
Cast
Francesca Chiejina Iphigenia
Dan D’Souza Thoas
Dan Shelvey Oreste
Michael Lafferty Pylade
Emily Williams Diana*
Greenvale School
Charlton Park Academy
Blackheath Halls Chorus and Youth Company
Blackheath Halls Orchestra
Creative Team
Laura Attridge Director
Chris Stark Music Director
Peiyao Wang Designer
Charly Dunford Lighting Designer
Corina Wuersch Movement Director
Performances
Tue 23 Sep, 7.30pm
Thu 25 Sep, 7.30pm
Sat 27 Sep, 3pm (BSL Interpreted)
Sun 28 Sep, 3pm
Support Blackheath Halls Opera
It is thanks to our Friends and Patrons of Blackheath Halls that we are able to continue to offer Blackheath Halls Opera for the whole community to enjoy. If you would like to become a Friend or Patron more information is available here.
You can read more about the costs and reach of our 2024 production of Cavalleria rusticana in our evaluation report.