Would you like to join our chorus or stage crew in 2003 for Hunyadi László?  You can be certain that you will have the opportunity to learn much and have a lot of fun while doing so.  The opera “workshop” will start on Monday 4th August at  Sherborne School, and will conclude with two public performances there on Friday & Saturday 15th and 16th August, and a further single performance at the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre on Monday 18th August.

Our chorus usually numbers between 40 and 50 people, ranging in age from 16 to 70, with an emphasis on the younger end of that scale. Although we concentrate on Dorset and South Somerset when recruiting the younger members of our amateur chorus, it is often the case that we cannot achieve the ideal balance of voices from the local area, so we are keen to hear from, and welcome, suitably qualified people from further afield.  This will be particularly true for tenor voices.

The first chorus rehearsal starts at 2.30pm on the Monday, which gives people time to move into their accommodation in one of the school boarding houses that morning.  Special arrangements are made for those coming from abroad to allow them to settle in overnight if necessary. 

The stage crew also generally arrives that morning, although the designer and his assistant will have done much preliminary work on the set during the previous week.  This is so that the erection of the main elements of the set on the stage can be achieved in time for rehearsals to take place there by the Tuesday.  There is still plenty for the stage crew to do in the eleven days before the dress rehearsal! The designer and his assistant will involve the stage crew members in every facet of stagecraft from the construction and painting of the set and props to the achievement of safe rapid scene changes. There will also be the opportunity to learn from the skills of the lighting designer.

Polystyrene rules - OK?

The general pattern for the next eleven days is one of intensive rehearsals starting at 10.00 am each day.  Rehearsals continue throughout the day, interspersed with mid-morning coffee break, lunch, tea and supper, until 9.00 pm when most of the company gathers in the relaxed atmosphere of Bow House for welcome refreshment.

Members of the production staff are all professionals.  However, you will also find a considerable number of volunteers are involved in the production.  The 15 or so ladies of the wardrobe  will have been working on the costumes for some months before you arrive, but ensuring that they all fit the 45 or so members of the chorus, and the principals, will require expert and rapid needlework during the ten days before the dress rehearsal.  Other volunteer members of our committee are also available to provide any assistance that may be required, and this is centred on the opera office where telephone and email facilities are available at certain hours of the day outside rehearsal periods.

Chorus rehearsals are centred on the rehearsal room in the Old Music School under the guidance of the chorus master, James Henderson. An important feature this year will be the additional language coaching. On most days there will be at least one session on the main stage in the Big Schoolroom  when the director will be rehearsing the chorus with the principals.   By the end of the first week whole scenes may be rehearsed on stage by the entire company, and this progresses to whole act rehearsals by the following Tuesday.  The piano dress rehearsal is scheduled for the Tuesday.  The orchestra joins on the Wednesday, and there is a full run through of the opera with the orchestra that night.  The dress rehearsal is on the Thursday and the two public performances on the Friday and Saturday. 

Interspersed with this intensive sequence of rehearsals there are also, of course, a number of planned social events that are always looked forward to and appreciated.  On the evening of the first Saturday there is a barbeque for which fancy dress is encouraged.

On the Wednesday evening of the second week, after the full run through with the orchestra, there is a cabaret during which members of the entire company - soloists, production staff, chorus and stage crew - have the opportunity to entertain the rest with musical or acting talents that they have not until then necessarily been required to use in the opera.  The wide range of musical talent that is demonstrated always surprises, and provides a memorable evening's entertainment.  A picnic lunch is arranged on the last Saturday, providing a well earned opportunity to relax before the final chorus warm up for the last performance.  The next day, after the get out and general clearing up has finished, lunch at a local pub  has provided the traditional means of winding down from what for all has been a hard-working and exhilarating fortnight.

In his review of our production of Norma, Robin Carvell wrote  "Another who was making a welcome return to the Sherborne stage was Annalise Whittlesea (Clotilde), following her successful Dorset Opera debut last year. Unfortunately, due to her rather limited role, the audience and chorus alike were not treated to the full range of Miss Whittlesea’s burgeoning and exciting talent. Yet, at the age of 24, she remains an inspiration and example to anyone who dreams of pursuing an operatic career. Having first sung in the Dorset Opera chorus whilst at St. Anthony’s Leweston, she now hopes to return to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to attend an opera course before embarking on what will undoubtedly be a stunning career.

Others who have taken part in Dorset Opera, whether in the chorus or back-stage, are equally capable of following in her footsteps.  Staging a full-scale opera, with professional soloists and musicians, in under two weeks, is an immensely exciting project to be involved with, even for those who have had no prior experience of opera. The worry of not being able to learn so many notes and words in time should not be a deterrent. Expert tuition, guidance and encouragement is provided from the start and, whilst they necessarily involve some hard work, the whole two weeks are conducted (quite literally!) with an enormous sense of fun.”

If you have experience of singing in your school choir or university choral society and are aged between 16 and 25, and would like to join us please send an e-mail to chorussec@dorsetopera.com.

The opportunity we are providing this year for members of the amateur stage crew to develop their skills will be just as rewarding.   If you are interested in developing further the skills you may have learnt back-stage earlier in amateur or in school productions send an email to stage@dorsetopera.com.

The charge for this workshop for the chorus on a full board basis is £250, which is little more than the cost of the board and food.   The full board fee for the stage crew  will be £120.  Because we are a charity the fees are heavily subsidised, and are very much less than any comparable music workshop. Nevertheless we do appreciate that for some young people, particularly those about to enter, or at, University, the demands on their finances are heavy. We have a limited number of bursaries available, details of which are available on request. Some proof of the financial position of applicants will be required, and information will be sought from schools and parents as appropriate.

Dorset Opera’s annual opera workshop represents extraordinary value for money - a view shared by most of our people, many of whom wish to return year after year.  To read about some of their experiences see the comments they made after each of the last three productions - SALVATOR ROSA - MACBETH - NORMA.

We look forward to hearing from you. For 2003 you will need to be available  from lunchtime on Monday 4th August in Sherborne until after the performance in London late on Monday 18th August.

NOTE FOR PROFESSIONAL SINGERS

Following the sudden death of Patrick Shelley in May this year we are at present unable to process any requests for auditions.  As soon as an alternative artistic administration has been set up a further notice will be placed on this site.