Blackheath Halls’ annual Opera Gala Night is a highlight of its events calendar – and an important source of revenue for the venue, aiming to bring in £15,000 through ticket sales and donations, which this year will go towards staging the Halls’ 2023 Community Opera, Handel’s Semele.
Darlings of the opera world flock to the Halls to perform, with the venue’s new patron Ailish Tynan and two-time Grammy winner Angel Blue both confirmed to sing on the night.
BBC In Tune’s arts broadcaster Sean Rafferty is presenting this year’s event. So, dress in your best and prepare to be dazzled. Oh, and arrive by 6:30pm if you fancy a glass of fizz before the show!
The Weekender spoke to Rose Ballantyne, Community Engagement Manager at Blackheath Halls, to find out more…
Holly O’Mahony (HOM): Your Opera Gala Night is always a highlight of the annual calendar. What can audiences get especially excited about from the 2023 programme?
Rose Ballantyne (RB): We are so excited with our line-up for this year. As well as the announced headliners, we have one surprise guest at the event as well as our youth choir performing. We know the audience won’t be disappointed.
HOM: You’ve never been short of patrons who are also leading opera singers, but tell us about the signing of Ailish Tynan, who audiences might have seen performing in the Royal Opera House’s production of The Barber of Seville recently…
RB: We were very sad to hear that Nicky Spence was standing down from his role with us as Blackheath Halls’ Opera Patron. His impact on the project has been enormous and we will miss his warmth, commitment and enthusiasm. When we heard he was stepping down we thought about other people on our wish-list and Ailish was at the top. She’s a phenomenal artist with a wide network and lives in Lewisham. We’re thrilled to have her taking on this role for us.
HOM: Ailish isn’t the only star performing. You’ve also got two time Grammy Award winner Angel Blue confirmed, who was recently in the Royal Opera House’s production of Verdi’s Aida. Can you tell us more about this?
RB: Angel Blue is so exciting. She’s one of my heroines so I can’t believe I’m going to meet her and hear her sing in such an intimate setting and right on my doorstep. All our singers will perform pieces that they know and enjoy, giving the event a real party atmosphere. I don’t know what they’ll be performing yet but that adds to the excitement.
HOM: The event is raising money for this year’s Community Opera, Handel’s Semele. With so many arts organisations having their funding cut, is it especially important to be self-sufficient right now?
RB: Yes, we need to try to be self-sufficient! We see first-hand, again and again, throughout the year, how important community music making is to people’s well being and to their sense of belonging. And yet we feel as though it’s so difficult to get this message out to those with the purse strings. We feel incredibly privileged to have so many wonderful, local supporters both as individual donors to our opera and our Friends and Patrons of Blackheath Halls. Without these people we couldn’t begin to achieve what we do. It’s so life-affirming to know that these people care, particularly in the current climate.
HOM: Lastly, tell us about your upcoming production of Handel’s Semele. What made you choose it, who’s working on it and what can we expect from your take on it?
RB: We are really excited to be welcoming back a much-loved director Harry Fehr for our 2023 opera. He was eager to choose Semele and we wanted to honour this choice which we believe will work really well. While the opera is still in the planning phase, I can confirm we will have an adult chorus, our Blackheath Halls Orchestra, theBlackheath Halls Youth Company and students from our wonderful partner schools, Greenvale and Charlton Park Academy. We have a starry line up of professional soloists led by Francesca Chiejina as Semele and we will have some of our super talented vocal students from Trinity Laban involved too.
The Opera Gala Night is running at Blackheath Halls, 23 Lee Road, Blackheath, London SE3 9RQ. May 21, from 6:30pm.
Admission: £55/£525 for a table of 10.
www.blackheathhalls.com/whats-on/opera-gala-night-2023/
