Streetwise Opera press pack

SHORT APPROVED COPY (29 words)

Streetwise Opera is an award-winning opera company and arts charity for people affected by homelessness. We run free weekly singing and creative workshops across England and stage critically-acclaimed operas.

SEMI-SHORT APPROVED COPY (59 words)

Streetwise Opera is an award-winning opera company and arts charity for people affected by homelessness. We run free weekly singing and creative workshops across England and stage critically-acclaimed operas. Our upcoming production, After Winter, will be performed at Middlesbrough Town Hall and Ryedale Festival in July 2020, featuring baritone Roderick Williams and original words and music by Errollyn Wallen.

MEDIUM APPROVED COPY (112 words)

Streetwise Opera is an award-winning opera company and arts charity for people affected by homelessness. We run free weekly singing and creative workshops across England and stage critically-acclaimed operas.

Streetwise Opera’s work improves wellbeing and increases social inclusion. Our productions platform the skills of our performers in a professional arena, showing that whatever life throws at them, they can achieve great things. Underpinning these, our workshop programme offers a dependable source of creative activity in lives where everything else can be changing.

Our upcoming production, After Winter, will be performed at Middlesbrough Town Hall and Ryedale Festival in July 2020, featuring baritone Roderick Williams and original words and music by Errollyn Wallen.

LONG APPROVED COPY (326 words)

Streetwise Opera is an award-winning opera company and arts charity for people affected by homelessness. We run free weekly singing and creative workshops across England and stage critically-acclaimed operas.

Streetwise Opera places equal emphasis on artistic excellence and social impact. Our productions platform the skills of our performers in a professional arena that is inclusive but not tokenistic. They promote positive attitudes towards homeless people and show the performers that whatever life throws at them, they can achieve great things. Underpinning these productions, our workshop programme involves weekly singing and acting workshops in homeless centres and arts venues, regular performances, opera trips and volunteering opportunities – a dependable source of creative activity in lives where everything else can be changing.

Our upcoming production, After Winter, will be performed at Middlesbrough Town Hall and Ryedale Festival in July 2020, featuring baritone Roderick Williams and original words and music by Errollyn Wallen. Previous productions include The Passion at Manchester’s Campfield Market in 2016 (“A beautiful retelling of the most enduring story of redemption”, The Times ★★★★★), and Tell Me The Truth About Love at Sage Gateshead in 2018 (“A powerful and inspiring show”, The Guardian ★★★★).

Streetwise Opera founded the With One Voice international arts and homelessness movement, which became an independent organisation in 2019.

Winner of the some of the top awards in the arts and charity sectors – including The Times/Gramophone Music in Community Award, the BP A&B Long-term Partnership Award and the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award – Streetwise Opera demonstrates that when there is the dual support of arts and social care, people who have experienced homelessness can move forward faster and better.

Streetwise Opera’s work improves wellbeing and increases social inclusion, which can result in transformational impacts such as more independent living, reduction in substance misuse, and engagement in education, training and employment. As one performer says: ‘Streetwise Opera has shown me that if I can achieve this, surely I can take on anything else.’

streetwiseopera.org