Explore More

Mahogany Opera is to bring its award-winning Snappy Opera programme into schools up and down the country from East Sussex to Edinburgh, from June 2021 until July 2022. Around 750 children, aged 7-11, from 21 different schools will join Mahogany Opera in a magical year of singing, making and theatre.

The programme is delivered using Mahogany Opera’s twelve uniquely commissioned Snappy Operas with a specially trained team of delivery artists – director, music director and repetiteur – working alongside the children and teachers in their schools. The ‘Year of Snappy Operas’ will feature Snappy Operas written by some of the UK's most exciting composers & writers including Errollyn Wallen, Ian McMillan, Gwyneth Herbert, Kerry Andrew, Zanib Mian, Emily Hall, Philip Venables (and many others!). There will also be premieres of two new Snappy Operas by composer/writer teams Raymond Yiu & Russell Plows and Pippa Murphy & Karine Polwart, developed remotely with children in schools over the last year.

Mahogany Opera will also bring its Snappy Opera programme to Scotland for the first time and is delighted that this has been made possible through a new partnership with Edinburgh International Festival.

As children recover from the impacts of the pandemic the ‘Year of Snappy Operas’ will provide an opportunity for school communities to reconnect through the joy of singing and the restorative power of music and theatre.

The ‘Year of Snappy Operas’ is generously supported by Arts Council England – National Lottery Project Grant, Chapman Charitable Trust, The John S. Cohen Foundation, Didymus Charity, The Foyle Foundation, Scops Arts Trust, The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust.

The commission of the two new Snappy Operas was supported by a grant from The PRS Foundation Open Fund for Organisations, and generous donations from The Finn Family Fund and Dr. Joan Hester.