09/02/26
Behind the scenes and on the ground: 2025 Highlights
2025 has been another busy year for the team at Mahogany Opera. There has been a lot of work behind the scenes as we prepare for many exciting plans coming to fruition in 2026, but we had lots of fun along the way too, with performances, workshops and open calls galore. Let’s take a whistlestop tour of the last year…
In JANUARY we started work on a brand new SNAPPY OPERA. Commissioned by Dunedin Consort, composer Bethan Tennick, librettist Iona Ramsey, and our own Frederic Wake-Walker & Stephen Deazley, met with children at Kildrum Primary School in Cumbernauld to explore ideas for the new commission which will join the Snappy Operas cannon for the Snappy Operas Festival in 2026.
In FEBRUARY we teaming up with our friends at Hooligan Art Community to discuss our shared experience and passion for producing touring work that engages local participants actively in each performance, as part of our Virtual Open House series.
MARCH saw the first of many OPEN CALLS in 2025, as we supported Snap-Elastic, the lead producer for our Associate Project, Dussskk, to recruit singers and performers for their highly interactive, sensory performance for disabled and neurodivergent teenagers and their companions.
In APRIL, after lots of behind the scenes preparations, we appointed a creative team to develop a new DIY SNAPPY OPERA – designed to provide schools with an opportunity to stage their own Snappy Opera without the need for visits from a creative team – a great route for schools that have engaged with Snappy Operas before, or already have the skills and resources available. Snappy Operas experts and delivery artists Michael Betteridge and Freya Wynn Jones took up the challenge, bringing their experience of the project and in-school delivery to the table to help us shape this new offer.
After lots of internal discussions, planning, and digital spring-cleaning, in MAY we revelled the priorities to our key stands of work (and a refreshed website!) including our renewed focus on Meet Me @Mahogany - our invitation to explore, (un)learn and open up the process of making new work, focusing on public discussions and events (online and in-person), participatory workshops, training, research and collaborations with other arts organisations and higher education.
JUNE was a particularly busy month!
- Our Snappy Operas commission – THE NEVERBEAST – was completed and performed as part of a private in-school sharing in Cumbernauld.
- We began work on our DIY Snappy Opera, with in-school workshops in North Tyneside and online consultation with teachers and educators from across the UK.
- Snappy Operas also returned to Aberdeen, as we partnered once again with Aberdeen Performing Arts, with a special Snappy Opera Gala Performance as part of their Light The Blue Festival.
- We received funding from the Jerwood Opera Designers Award, to help fund the recruitment of designers for 3 new commissions which will premiere in 2026
- Our team and trustees also took part in a series of workshops and discussions with facilitator Sonia Stevenson, to explore how we can best tell the story of all the great work we do!
READ MORE ABOUT OUR NEW DIY SNAPPY OPERA
SNAPPY OPERAS ABERDEEN: IN PICTURES
In AUGUST we were delighted to share the news that we had secured funding from Arts Council England to support a Snappy Operas Festival in 2026. We immediately jumped into action, with Open Calls to recruit Delivery Artists to lead the activity in both mainstream schools and SEND settings
The Open Calls continued in SEPTEMBER, as we started the search for singers and designers for In The Belly of the Beast – a co-commission with Dunedin Consort, Hera and Mahogany Opera, bringing to life Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s Cantates Bibliques, building on the success of Our Of Her Mouth.
In OCTOBER we were back in Cumbria with composer Michael Betteridge and director/writer Freya Wynn-Jones, for further workshops to develop our DIY Snappy Opera. Our Artistic Director, Frederic Wake-Walker, was also in town, supporting development workshops for another of our Associate Projects, Midwinter Hullabaloo – a family focussed participatory event in Cumbria, inspired by wassailing and Saturnalias with singing, rituals and games.
We got into the Christmas spirit early in NOVEMBER, with lots of exciting developments for A Christmas Miracle - a new commission with Master of the King’s Music, Errollyn Wallen CBE, inspired by Benjamin Britten’s unrealised plans for A Christmas Sequence. There was a sing through of new material with Errollyn at St Bartholomew's Church in Orford, Suffolk, as well as a meeting with the community in Orkney, where the new work will premiere next year.
We began DECEMBER with a special Artist Training Day in Leeds, kicking off the activity for our Snappy Operas Festival 2026, bringing together delivery artists old and new to prepare for in-school activity starting in January. The festive season also saw us launch our Big Give Christmas Challenge to raise the final funds to make the Festival possible – we raised over £16,000, not only funding the Snappy Operas Festival 2026, but securing new connections to help support our work into the future.
Whether developing new work, supporting artists, or inspiring young minds, none of our achievements in 2025 would have been possible without the support of the individuals, businesses, trusts and foundations who have funded our work. We are also grateful to all our friends and supporters, who have advocated for our work and helped share our opportunities.
If, like us, you believe that music and the arts can transform lives, and would like to support us in 2026 and beyond, do get in touch:
