The Baytree Opera Kit

An Opera?

Yes, a short comic opera by Artistic Director Frances M Lynch for 4 – 6 soloists, chorus and piano.

A Kit?

Yes, it can be performed exactly as it is, or used to create an opera all about you, or used as a structure to create new work with groups of any age or ability in workshops and social events!

And what is this Baytree?

It’s the  wonderful Baytree Centre in Brixton who provide integrated educational and training programmes for women and girls. The Baytree Centre originally commissioned The Baytree Opera Kit for development during their summer school for girls.

Workshops with The Baytree Opera Kit:

electric voice theatre have run workshops with young children, and adults of all ages and abilities. The work serves to introduce people to the opera form in a completely interactive package which involves them in all aspects of making opera.  Workshops can be for half a day to a full week. Please contact us for details

The Baytree Opera Kit is a musico-dramatic description of what operatic characters and voices are used for in real operas, and is a model for structural and musical styles of composition.

The following outlines how a full week project would work:

The leaders sing and rehearse it with all the participants who join in both as the chorus and soloists. They use this experience to write their own opera, based on the same structures – overture, duos, trios and choruses.The delivery of the Project reflects the daily life and rituals of a real opera company that commission and devise new work.

The participants enter this world completely.

They are treated like professional singers, directors, designers, stage managers, company managers, librarians and librettists.

They take part in rehearsals, auditions, notes sessions, creative team meetings, collaborative composition sessions, vocal coaching with a repetiteur, and, of course, learn how to bow graciously!

The project can be done in small modules over a whole school year, term or week. Modules can also be used to provide specific skill focuses for individual schools on a one-off, or short term basis. The project works for all age groups from 8 years upwards, and is an excellent vehicle for encouraging older children and young people to work as leaders with primary school ages.

The video link below shows a sight-reading workshop with opera students: Hazelwood House Baytree Opera Kit Workshop