OPERA North has announced Switch ON; a programme of new outdoor events and digital projects to take place this Autumn, embodying the Company’s commitment to make music with and for audiences in communities across the North of England. This activity respects the latest government guidelines on social distancing and live performances, which are not currently permitted to take place indoors. The Company plans further announcements in the coming weeks of concerts and staged opera either live or available digitally as it responds to the changing guidelines.

The Leeds-based national opera company has postponed its previously planned season of large-scale operas, which was due to tour to theatres across the North of England from September.

The new Switch ON projects include As You Are, a new soundwalk for Leeds by South African cellist and composer Abel Selaocoe, which will open in November; a digital premiere for Will Todd’s new community opera, Song of Our Heartland; a new animation re-interpreting La bohème to be shown in cities across the North in the run up to Christmas; and an outdoor tour for family audiences of Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel and Gretel, beginning on Tuesday 18 August.

Richard Mantle, General Director, Opera North, said: “We are extremely pleased to be able to announce such varied projects today as the first newly planned activity for this Autumn. Switch ON is our first step back to sharing music and performance with audiences in villages, towns and cities across the North of England. We have not been silent during lockdown, with thousands of people from around the world engaging with films of our work online from the Ring cycle to The Turn of the Screw, and over 1,000 amateur singers taking part in weekly lessons alongside the Chorus of Opera North in From Couch to Chorus, but we are delighted now to be announcing this first selection of new work.

“The overall picture regarding live indoor performances remains unclear over the next few months. We hope to be able to plan and present more live performance of great opera and music for audiences across our region, in as many different cities and communities as possible, once we are able to perform within social distancing guidelines. We are currently undertaking detailed planning with our partner venues in Leeds and beyond to ensure that we will be ready to restart performances safely and with financial viability, once there is a clear green light from the Government.

“Tickets for Switch ON events will all be accessibly priced and we hope as many people as possible will have the opportunity to experience music with us either live or digitally. We are a partner in Leeds Says Thanks, an initiative by Leeds City Council to thank NHS and frontline workers for their enormous efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic; as part of this we will ensure that tickets to As You Are, our soundwalk for Leeds, will be made available to frontline staff.

“We remain committed to our purpose and whatever challenges we face, Opera North will continue to use music to create extraordinary experiences every day for and with the communities we serve. Live or digitally, in classrooms, theatres, homes and public spaces; we will continue to share music with people of all ages and backgrounds.”

All productions previously planned for Autumn 2020 (La traviata, Jack the Ripper, and Trouble in Tahiti / West Side Story Symphonic Dances, in association with Phoenix Dance Theatre) and Winter 2021 (Carmen, Alcina, and The Girl of the Golden West) are postponed and will be rescheduled over the next two years.

Opera North’s new concert staging of Parsifal, scheduled to be performed at concert halls across the country in Spring 2021, remains on sale.