Who We Are
Opera Circus is an artist led performing arts company founded in 1991. We commission, produce and tour new works of chamber opera and music theatre nationally and internationally. We devise projects with children and young people using creative and cultural activities to explore issues of Equality, Inclusion and Child and Human Rights.
We are a small company with a wide reach. We have a minimal administration and a large ensemble of freelance professionals who work together, project by project. We are based in Dorset and work both locally and globally. We are a charity and a non profit company limited by guarantee and registered in the UK. We are looking to extend the company base within the EU in order to continue our cultural life within Europe and to work with our many partners on an equal footing.
We have an invaluable Board of Trustees of 6 people. Rosie Russell, Susan Bisatt, Fiona Whytehead, Robert Golden, Darren Abrahams and Tina Ellen Lee with Rory Newbery joining us during 2023. There is a wider network of advisors and mentors who have been with the company for many years as well as youth leaders and young artists whose influence is vital. We have a number of individuals and companies who volunteer and provide support in kind whose generosity is deeply appreciated.
Singers: Nadine Benjamin and Lore Lixenberg .
Music: Nigel Osborne Film: Robert Golden
We have a Board of Trustees of 6 people.
Darren Abrahams
Darren Abrahams is a singer, coach, trauma therapist and trainer working internationally as a facilitator and project leader in the fields of personal, cultural and community development. Darren is co-founder of The Human Hive a CIC working with change making individuals and organisations to regenerate People, Places and Planet.
He is on the steering team and leads on pastoral care for The Complete Freedom of Truth, an international youth-led project developing global youth citizenship through culture and the arts and is a trainer and Wellbeing Adviser for Musicians Without Borders where he trains musicians to use music for peace building. Darren is co-founder of the Songs From Home project, a new UK based intercultural ensemble exploring community building through music.
Darren is an expert at making people feel safe while bringing communities together to heal. In this project Darren supported youth leaders to understand their work in the context of wider political and social movements, by running both online and in person workshops sharing tools and knowledge to unlock the power of the arts for trauma regulation, community building and conflict resolution.
He worked with the leadership team from Kosovan partner Termokiss to help them develop systems and structures to allow them to professionalise the running of their organisation and to address some long term communication issues. He resumed his pastoral care role during the residency on Portland, Dorset and was present to support any participants who were struggling with the process and to work with the facilitation team to ensure everyone was able to participate in safety.
Darren commissioned youth leader Shaniqua Benjamin to produce an episode of The Human Hive Podcast focused on the Portland residency. This episode questioned the omission of Arts and Culture from the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with interviews from several of the participants. You can hear it on iTunes and Spotify
https://darrenabrahams.com
https://thehumanhive.org
@humanhiveglobal on all social media platforms
Susan Bisatt
Susan’s passion for the voice has led her to inspire and enable others to sing. She combines a performing career with a range of roles as vocal director and teacher, working with groups of singers from the age of 2 to 82, which reflect her belief in the joy and therapeutic nature of singing.
In addition to her post as Music Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Manchester Metropolitan University, she is an experienced vocal and performance skills leader, leading workshops across the UK and internationally. She is currently part of an Erasmus Pan-European project “The Complete Freedom of Truth”. TCFT is an international 5 year, youth-led project with the ambition to develop global youth citizenship through culture and the arts.
Her varied career and wide experience of both performing and teaching has allowed her to explore and develop this passion in depth, and she holds an MA in the study of singing as a therapeutic activity. As a result, she is regularly invited to deliver her own “Singing for Health & Enjoyment” workshops, open to all, by private and public sector organisations.
Rosie Russell Chair
Rosie is a performer, teacher, coach and change maker. She has spent her career working with young people and communities – in the UK South West, the Balkans and South America.
She works deeply at both strategic and at grass roots levels – challenging and nurturing in equal measure. Rosie is passionate about learning and social justice and believes absolutely in the value of arts and culture to enrich and give voice to our lives, to uphold our human rights. She loves bringing people together, meaningful conversations and sharing food.
Robert Golden
Robert Golden, born in Detroit, USA, an award winning independent photographer/filmmaker has produced many photographic-stories; written/directed over 40 documentaries, 2 feature films and 900 TV commercials. He has written 3 plays, 40 film scripts, poems and many essays about film and photography, politics and culture and published 15 books. Recently he has been teaching young and older people about photo/film-storytelling. His novel, A FORGETTABLE MAN, has been republished by Writesideleft as well as having published A ROLE FOR ARTISTS IN TROUBLED TIMES in January 2019 and a Role for Artists Post Covid in 2021 and ongoing. His new documentary film, THIS GOOD EARTH is distributed by Random Media, USA and available on multiple streaming services as well as DVD. Currently his book about picture making called TRANSIENT LIGHT, FLEETING TIME is available as an epub on multiple sites and from April as a hard back through The Book Shop Dorset, more information here
Robert is currently finishing the edit on a new film Belonging/Becoming, 40 interviews with young people from multiple cultures and countries with their thoughts about democracy, human rights, climate change and other concerns for their lives and futures.
Robert Golden has documented the work of Opera Circus since its inception in 1991, on film and in photographs and helped to create the image and storytelling of the company. Laura Fatini, Italian writer and director, said that…”it is essential to have Robert film and photograph the work because he always shows us the other side of the story that we don’t see ourselves.”
Tina Ellen Lee
Tina Ellen Lee FRSA is an artistic director and producer of both performing arts, youth and community programmes and documentary films. She is artistic director of Opera Circus, a successful experimental opera/music theatre company founded in 1991. As a performer and producer Tina toured all over the world with Opera Circus in various of the company’s productions and has co-produced all of their work.
Tina’s work with Nigel Osborne, Emeritus, Professor of Music, composer and human rights worker has led her to establish partnerships with other arts organisations and NGO’s in the UK and Wider Europe. This is both for the creation of new work and to continue to explore the use of the arts and culture to encourage inter-cultural and ethnic understanding, particularly with young people.
In 2015 Tina was awarded the European Citizen’s Prize by the President of the European Parliament. This is given to individuals or groups for displaying an outstanding commitment to promoting better mutual understanding and facilitating cross border or transnational cooperation within the European Union. She is also a Winston Churchill/Finzi Fellow.
Tina is an advocate for the importance of arts and culture in the UK and Europe and is part of a large network of cultural activists, diplomats, politicians and others working to encourage social justice and social change though culture and the arts.
Tina has co-produced all of Robert Golden’s documentary films including the Savouring the World, Savouring Europe series and his current documentary, This Good Earth.
Fiona Whytehead
Fiona’s first career was as an actor for ten years doing live theatre and working on film. She worked in theatres up and down the country in plays ranging from Shakespeare to Dario Fo (Nobel Prize winning avant garde writer); and in London’s West End including as part of Ray Cooney’s Theatre of Comedy. Fiona holds the LGSM speech and drama teaching qualification.
Following this she moved into charity events creating and producing programmes of words and music featuring well known writers and performers such as Juliet Stevenson, Emma Thompson, Harold Pinter and Rory Bremner. She produced evenings both in private houses, village halls and in large commercial venues such as The Festival Hall on London’s South Bank. She also co-edited and collated a book of words to give a voice to victims of torture, called Captured Voices (foreword by John McCarthy). She then took fundraising management roles in charities such as The Medical for the Care of Victims of Torture and Refuge (where she was Director of Fundraising). She was part of the team that set up The Helen Bamber Foundation. Since 2007 she has worked in Enfield borough as Communication skills’ Consultant and Trainer for the School Improvement and Enrichment service. She has run the “Mayor’s Awards” programmes in public speaking and debating in schools throughout the borough, including training days, competitions and master classes. She has also worked with 8 and 9 year olds as part of a lottery funded programme, Grass Roots, to help build up their confidence and aptitude in class in spoken and written work.
Darren Abrahams
I transitioned out of a full time singing career to start using the skills I’d developed for community development. Much of my work has been with Tina Ellen Lee and Opera Circus, a pioneering performing arts company which works internationally with children and young people using creative and cultural activities to explore issues of Equality, Inclusion and Child / Human Rights. I am also a trainer and trauma specialist for Musicians Without Borders, an organisation that works with musicians internationally to rebuild communities post conflict.
When life difficulties bring up barriers that separate people from one another, the arts (especially music) have the ability to bridge those gaps and affect the individual on all levels – biological, psychological and social – delivering healing in the shape of enjoyment, fulfilment and shared experience, and bringing people back together when they need each other most. I’ve seen this first hand working with men and women, adults and children, mainstream and differently abled and I’m constantly amazed by the ability of human beings to transcend profound difficulties to express the beauty in themselves.
Susan Bisatt
Susan’s passion for the voice has led her to inspire and enable others to sing. She combines a performing career with a range of roles as vocal director and teacher, working with groups of singers from the age of 2 to 82, which reflect her belief in the joy and therapeutic nature of singing.
In addition to her post as Music Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Manchester Metropolitan University, she is an experienced vocal and performance skills leader, leading workshops across the UK and internationally. She is currently part of an Erasmus Pan-European project “The Complete Freedom of Truth”. TCFT is an international 5 year, youth-led project with the ambition to develop global youth citizenship through culture and the arts.
Her varied career and wide experience of both performing and teaching has allowed her to explore and develop this passion in depth, and she holds an MA in the study of singing as a therapeutic activity. As a result, she is regularly invited to deliver her own “Singing for Health & Enjoyment” workshops, open to all, by private and public sector organisations.
Rosie Russell Chair
Rosie is a performer, teacher, coach and change maker. She has spent her career working with young people and communities – in the UK South West, the Balkans and South America.
She works deeply at both strategic and at grass roots levels – challenging and nurturing in equal measure. Rosie is passionate about learning and social justice and believes absolutely in the value of arts and culture to enrich and give voice to our lives, to uphold our human rights. She loves bringing people together, meaningful conversations and sharing food.
Robert Golden
Robert Golden, born in Detroit, USA, an award winning independent photographer/filmmaker has produced many photographic-stories; written/directed over 40 documentaries, 2 feature films and 900 TV commercials. He has written 3 plays, 40 film scripts, poems and many essays about film and photography, politics and culture and published 15 books. Recently he has been teaching young and older people about photo/film-storytelling. His novel, A FORGETTABLE MAN, has been republished by Writesideleft as well as having published A ROLE FOR ARTISTS IN TROUBLED TIMES in January 2019 and a Role for Artists Post Covid in 2021 and ongoing. His documentarybfilm, THIS GOOD EARTH will be released worldwide in spring 2022 by Random Media, USA.. He is currently finishing a book about picture making called TRANSIENT LIGHT, FLEETING TIME and is developing two new film projects.
Robert Golden has documented the work of Opera Circus since its inception in 1991, on film and in photographs and helped to create the image and storytelling of the company. Laura Fatini, Italian writer and director, said that…”it is essential to have Robert film and photograph the work because he always shows us the other side of the story that we don’t see ourselves.”
Tina Ellen Lee
Tina Ellen Lee FRSA is an artistic director and producer of both performing arts, youth and community programmes and documentary films. She is artistic director of Opera Circus, a successful experimental opera/music theatre company founded in 1991. As a performer and producer Tina toured all over the world with Opera Circus in various of the company’s productions and has co-produced all of their work.
Tina’s work with Nigel Osborne, Emeritus, Professor of Music, composer and human rights worker has led her to establish partnerships with other arts organisations and NGO’s in the UK and Wider Europe. This is both for the creation of new work and to continue to explore the use of the arts and culture to encourage inter-cultural and ethnic understanding, particularly with young people.
In 2015 Tina was awarded the European Citizen’s Prize by the President of the European Parliament. This is given to individuals or groups for displaying an outstanding commitment to promoting better mutual understanding and facilitating cross border or transnational cooperation within the European Union. She is also a Winston Churchill/Finzi Fellow.
Tina is an advocate for the importance of arts and culture in the UK and Europe and is part of a large network of cultural activists, diplomats, politicians and others working to encourage social justice and social change though culture and the arts.
Tina has co-produced all of Robert Golden’s documentary films including the Savouring the World, Savouring Europe series and his current documentary, This Good Earth.
Fiona Whytehead
Fiona’s first career was as an actor for ten years doing live theatre and working on film. She worked in theatres up and down the country in plays ranging from Shakespeare to Dario Fo (Nobel Prize winning avant garde writer); and in London’s West End including as part of Ray Cooney’s Theatre of Comedy. Fiona holds the LGSM speech and drama teaching qualification.
Following this she moved into charity events creating and producing programmes of words and music featuring well known writers and performers such as Juliet Stevenson, Emma Thompson, Harold Pinter and Rory Bremner. She produced evenings both in private houses, village halls and in large commercial venues such as The Festival Hall on London’s South Bank. She also co-edited and collated a book of words to give a voice to victims of torture, called Captured Voices (foreword by John McCarthy). She then took fundraising management roles in charities such as The Medical for the Care of Victims of Torture and Refuge (where she was Director of Fundraising). She was part of the team that set up The Helen Bamber Foundation. Since 2007 she has worked in Enfield borough as Communication skills’ Consultant and Trainer for the School Improvement and Enrichment service. She has run the “Mayor’s Awards” programmes in public speaking and debating in schools throughout the borough, including training days, competitions and master classes. She has also worked with 8 and 9 year olds as part of a lottery funded programme, Grass Roots, to help build up their confidence and aptitude in class in spoken and written work.
Above is a gallery of photographs (photos: Robert Golden) taken from some of our work, some present, some past. Looking back we see how over the years both strands of our work have slowly come together, the performance art, the workshops and artist’s development and the community, in particular working together with young people.
We have become paper and plastic free and are developing our climate emergency principles and actions.
We have policies in place for the environment, equality, human rights and safeguarding.
2023 is our 32nd anniversary. We will keep sharing photographs as we dig back into our archives and use the inspiration from all the people and the art we have created together to guide and inform us, to walk backwards into our future.
Contact: admin@operacircus.co.uk
Above is a gallery of photographs (photos: Robert Golden) taken from some of our work, some present, some past. Looking back we see how over the years both strands of our work have slowly come together, the performance art, the workshops and artist’s development and the community, in particular working together with young people.
We have become paper and plastic free and are developing our climate emergency principles and actions.
We have policies in place for the environment, equality, human rights and safeguarding.
2023 is our 32nd anniversary. We will keep sharing photographs as we dig back into our archives and use the inspiration from all the people and the art we have created together to guide and inform us, to walk backwards into our future.
Contact: admin@operacircus.co.uk
