English Touring Opera - Outreach

Outreach

In addition to theatre-staged operatic productions, ETO focuses on relationships with communities through education and outreach programs, and organizes projects for people of all ages and abilities – from on-stage workshops to residencies in schools and performances for children with special needs. Singers and musicians on tour with the ETO often step off-stage and into the classroom of outreach workshops alongside professional animateurs.

Tim Yealland is the current Artistic Associate for Education and overseas outreach and education programs.

One of ETO's outreach programs is Creative Residencies, in which young people with disabilities engage in week-long creative workshops. Between 2007 and 2009, these projects have included:

• House on the Moon (2007) involved a collaboration with local Wolverhampton organizations. Nearly 200 people including amateurs and professionals from every background and of every ability performed.
• Turtle Song was presented in 2008. It was a collaboration with Turtle Key Arts and the Royal College of Music which encourages people with Alzheimer's Disease or dementia to compose and sing their own songs, working alongside professional musicians.
• One Day, Two Dawns was an opera in 2009 for the Truro, Cornwall community, where a 200-member cast of local people aged 8 – 80 devised and rehearsed a new piece of music.
• Jack and the Banstalk / Red Ridinghood (also 2009) was an interactive fairytale opera with pre-school students composed by Tom Smail.