A groundbreaking new opera, imagined by more than 2,000 creative young minds across Rotherham, made its world premiere at the Magna Science Adventure Centre on 25th and 26th November, becoming the largest original community opera to date in the UK.
Tales Untapped: A Rotherham Opera was performed by a cast of over 1,000 young people from 27 schools across Rotherham, alongside professional singers and a live orchestra in front of a sold-out audience. The opera was a partnership between the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO), Rotherham Music Service, Grimm & Co, and Children’s Capital of Culture. Liam O’Shea, Community Music Manager at Rotherham Music, said: “Tales Untapped is a milestone for Rotherham – it’s the biggest original community opera the UK has ever seen, and it’s been powered entirely by the imagination of young people.
“This year Rotherham became the world’s first Children’s Capital of Culture, giving young people the platform to shape their town. This opera is that vision in action – we’ve put children’s ambitions centre stage and showed just how much the arts can empower and celebrate local talent.” Scarlett Myers, a Year six pupil from Swinton Queens Primary School, enjoyed being involved in Rotherham’s first opera. She said: “I didn’t know anything about opera before. It was exciting to perform in front of so many people today with all the other schools and see all our ideas come to life. I felt proud to represent Rotherham on a stage like that.”
Jillian Barker, Director of Learning and Participation at the RBO, added: “From the storyline to the set design, every idea in Tales Untapped came from Rotherham’s young people, resulting in a joyful, imaginative production that reflected real pride in Rotherham. “This pioneering project has been a year in the making and it was wonderful to see it come together today, opening up opera to young people and making it something they can shape, create, and own.”
RBO is committed to expanding access to opera and ballet through their Learning and Participation programmes. Rotherham is one of their new regional partnerships, and Tales Untapped is the first major project in a four-year initiative to widen arts education in the North. Tales Untapped was devised by Kirsty Taylor and Lucy Mulgan, in collaboration with Rosie Kat and the young people of Rotherham.