{"id":11,"date":"2020-10-01T18:44:41","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T18:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2026-03-02T18:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T18:37:35","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you are an avid opera listener, a beginner singer, or have found us completely by accident, welcome! Edinburgh Studio Opera is a\u00a0student-run legacy and introduces young singers into professional performance. We collaborate\u00a0with experts in both directing\u00a0and musicianship, and\u00a0encourage performers with any level of experience to join &#8211; we&#8217;ve all been beginners at some point.\u00a0Each year our team stages two productions, in tandem with spreading opera into the wider community. Our singers, whether their ambition is to continue professionally or not, all share a passion for opera, one that proves that it is not a dying art.<\/p>\n<p>On the right, please find our introductory playlist to opera, featuring some well-known arias. We use this to curate music for our weekly busking sessions on the Royal Mile.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/3ljuchZtJPlr2xYZJ3J1ER?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/86616231_3001370926564270_6046193193937010688_o-1024x768.jpg\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/86616231_3001370926564270_6046193193937010688_o-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/86616231_3001370926564270_6046193193937010688_o-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/86616231_3001370926564270_6046193193937010688_o-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/86616231_3001370926564270_6046193193937010688_o.jpg 1440w\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i>A word from our patron, Alan Oke (second in from right):<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was delighted when I was asked to support the work of Edinburgh Studio Opera by becoming its patron. During a career of some 40 years, I have become increasingly aware of the diminishing number of opportunities for young singers at the beginning of their careers to gain vital performance experience. Companies such as ESO perform an invaluable service in this area, acting as a half-way house between college\/university productions and the professional world.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Alan Oke<\/p>\n<p><em>Fo<\/em><i>llowing a successful career as a baritone, Alan made his debut as a tenor in 1992. Since then his career has covered much of the tenor repertoire for companies include Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Scottish Opera; Opera North; The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; English National Opera; Canadian Opera Company and The Metropolitan Opera as well as appearances at the Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Brighton, Bregenz and Ravenna Festivals and the BBC Proms.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><a tabindex=\"0\">Spring Performance<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our Spring performance is our largest production of the year,\u00a0 it can take place between mid February to late March.\u00a0 We look for production team and cast in September, and rehearsals will usually begin shortly after. There are opportunities to be a part of the chorus, or for our more experienced singers, to be a principle role.\u00a0<b><\/b><\/p>\n<p><a tabindex=\"0\">Edinburgh Fringe Festival Performance<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Some years, a smaller cast is auditioned and selected to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Usually, the cast is of no more than ten. This production is featured alongside many other talented artists at the Edinburgh Fringe. The opera itself is usually written for us through our annual composing competition, and we are incredibly grateful to work with such amazing musicians.<\/p>\n<p><a tabindex=\"0\">Busking and Carolling<\/a><\/p>\n<p>You would be wrong in thinking that ESO is all serious performance \u2013 a large part of our sponsorship comes from busking! On weekends we organise for our singers to sing along the Royal Mile, which helps us with any stage fright, and gives us a unique opportunity to perform.<\/p>\n<p><a tabindex=\"0\">Opera Gala<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Towards the end of the first semester, ESO usually hosts an Opera Gala, which is an excellent additional performance opportunity for society members. It is used to garner interest in our March performance, and also raise funds to support our society. Even chorus members from our March production can have the opportunity to perform a solo!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6BAF46C2-4236-4B33-ACD6-B295521FD13F-1024x684.jpg\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6BAF46C2-4236-4B33-ACD6-B295521FD13F-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6BAF46C2-4236-4B33-ACD6-B295521FD13F-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6BAF46C2-4236-4B33-ACD6-B295521FD13F-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6BAF46C2-4236-4B33-ACD6-B295521FD13F.jpg 1079w\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"351\" \/><br \/>\n&#8220;I was surprised to find that opera isn&#8217;t as daunting or heavy as one might think. We all share a passion for performance and are all regular people, there isn&#8217;t a hint of pretension which harbours a really welcoming environment.&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Holly Gowen (President 2022-23)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you are an avid opera listener, a beginner singer, or have found us completely by accident, welcome! Edinburgh Studio Opera is a\u00a0student-run legacy and introduces young singers into professional performance. We collaborate\u00a0with experts in both directing\u00a0and musicianship, and\u00a0encourage performers with any level of experience to join &#8211; we&#8217;ve all been beginners at some point.\u00a0Each &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;About&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":899,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburghstudioopera.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}