Work in Schools
We provide tickets for free schools’ performances, deliver workshops in schools, invite local young people to perform on our stage and provide individual singing lessons to help them unleash their musical and creative potential.
In 2023, the Magic Flute Education Project in partnership with DRET saw over 1,400 year 5 pupils perform an hour-long version of Mozart’s Magic Flute in venues across the East Midlands.
In 2019, our work in schools focussed on material from our mainstage production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, driven by an identified need to support children’s engagement with music and singing as they move from primary to secondary education.
In 2017 we were awarded the prize of ‘Best Event’ – for our ‘engagement with community and work with young people’ at the Leicestershire Tourism Awards.
For more information on our work with schools, please contact admin@nevillholtopera.co.uk
The DRET NHO Children’s Chorus
Since 2014, our children’s chorus has been drawn from the schools of our Education partner, the David Ross Education Trust. Prior to 2013, children from these schools had limited opportunities to engage with live music and opera. Since then we are delighted that they have been invited to attend rehearsals and performances, undertake workshops with NHO singers in school, and, most significantly, join professional artists onstage as the children’s choruses in our mainstage operas. Performances mounted specifically to celebrate these young people have included 2017’s Noye’s Fludde, and our 2019 production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Of their starring role in 2019, Mark Pullinger of Bachtrack noted that the children’s chorus ‘sang like angels’, while the Daily Telegraph stated ‘Britten would have been delighted by an excellent children’s chorus that performed with terrific verve and clearly relished all the music’s sportiveness.’
