At a school in the North Nottinghamshire coalfield, inner city Nottingham or any similar location throughout the East Midlands "We didn't know opera would be fun." "It's just like real life."

These two reactions from young teenagers in the Ashfield district of North Nottinghamshire capture the excitement generated by Opera Start, Magdala's unique programme bringing opera to schools, funded by the Regional Arts Lottery Programme.

Sutton Centre Community College 2007

Kirkby College Gallery now online.

 Click here

This highly participatory year-long event brings opera into the lives of young people for whom it would otherwise be a closed book and gives new skills and fulfilment to the Magdala students who deliver it.

Workshops throughout the school year introduce the techniques to make a simple music theatre piece which pupils and Magdala students finally perform together at a public concert in the context of a real opera.

The benefits

The benefits are the provision of opportunities to realise and develop creative skills in an environment (domestic and scholastic) where those opportunities would not otherwise be present.

Here are some stories of actual participants in these programmes:

• The most graphic demonstration of the power of the Magdala programme is the case of Helen Ray, who became a pupil of Magdala after encountering opera for the first time at 16 when a pupil at Ashfield Comprehensive. This one-off workshop triggered an intense interest in singing, which led to study with Michelle Wegwart. She is now studying singing full-time on a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
  
  
• Saewyd, another student at Elliott Durham, found that she has a unique vocal ability and started lessons with Michelle. Having left the school she is now finishing her BTech in Performing Arts.
  
  
• Alison Dabell, a former Magdala member, as a direct result of her leadership in the workshops, started a position as a special needs classroom assistant at Elliott Durham and has decided to pursue this career with training in the field.
  
  
• Yvette Hughes, former pupil at Sutton Centre Community College, expressed an interest in stage management and has regularly acted as Stage Manager for Magdala at our larger events. She has also taken part as a workshop leader and shows great aptitude for this.
  
  
• Robert Cupitt joined the Magdala Chorus for six months following a project we ran at Djanogly City Technology College and he now hopes to pursue a career in the performing arts.

What the Teachers said ……

"The project has given many of the students a much higher degree of self esteem. Their evaluation of each workshop focused mainly on the attention that we given to them and this enabled them to work at a higher level at each successive workshop. The day of the final performance had a great impact on their self worth as they could see how many people were there to support their work from musicians to lighting experts.

As the students now reflect on what they achieved the project is beginning to have a wider impact on their self belief. When they think about the power of the music and drama that the Magdala soloists and chorus produced, and see that they were part of that power, it will give many of the students a belief in themselves and in the wider possibilities of life and what they can achieve within it.

On a practical level the students all began to learn many skills. The workshops were constructed brilliantly to provide the students with a firm grasp of performance and improvisation skills. There was also a great deal of emphasis placed on literacy and language and how they can be used as part of the creative process. Many of the improvisation activities showed the students a great deal about the power of language.

Finally I would like to stress that the whole project was an incredible training opportunity for the staff involved. I have personally learnt a great deal which has already begun to have an impact on the Performing Arts Department. The Head of Drama and myself have both begun to use many of the workshop activities in class.

I cannot stress enough what a wonderful experience Opera Start has been and would simply like to repeat once more my sincere thanks for all your hard work and dedication while working with us at Kirkby College."

Andrew Beighton, Subject Leader - Music - February 2006

"I am writing to thank Magdala for delivering the Opera Start Workshops. The concert on the final evening was a success and a number of parents and staff have passed on their positive comments to the school. All pupils who took part fully appreciate the hard work that the Magdala team put into the event and many have commented of their enjoyment and sense of accomplishment.

In terms of impact, the whole series of workshops has provided Holgate with much food for thought, particularly in how we motivate some of our more challenging pupils. It was wonderful to see the ones that had completed the full course of workshops performing in public. The achievement of these young people can be measured in their commitment to a project that has required out of school input.

As the school prepares to apply for specialist schools status with a focus on the arts it is encouraging to see our pupils working and performing alongside creative professionals in a true spirit of partnership."

Mr P Compton, Head Teacher, Holgate School - January 2006

" Sutton Centre Community College has worked in partnership with Magdala on four occasions. The impact on each occasion has been considerable on both students and staff and the local community.

In each case, Magdala has worked around our school Activity Week with approximately 30 students, volunteers of all ages and abilities. Through skilled, sensitive and supportive interventions, the Magdala singers and musicians have helped to draw out the creative potential of these students, helping them to take part in productions which have used their talent in singing, drama and dance to a level which was far beyond what students and staff thought was possible. Over each week the students have been transformed from hesitant and uncertain beginners into confident and enthusiastic participants in public performance.

Magdala has worked closely with teaching staff who have gained inspiration from their work. This has been further developed by our current study into the impact of the last project on 'Creative Learning', undertaken in collaboration with the School of Education at Nottingham Trent University. We hope to be able to learn much from this study which can be applied to learning at the school, and beyond, about developing the creative potential of students.

Magdala has also been involved in extending their work with other local Secondary Schools in Ashfield, so that we join in a broader partnership framework for encouraging creativity in learning.

It is very important that Magdala has brought opera production to the wider community. An essential element of each of their three projects has been a public performance in which our students have take a full part. Sutton in Ashfield has not had easy access to opera of this standard and audiences at well attended public performances, often full of initially sceptical but supportive parents, have become enthusiastic admirers of the music once they have been given the opportunity to participate. We hope to extend such public performances, especially as we are a school sited at the heart of the Sutton community, if we can continue joint projects in the future.

Magdala has made an enormous impact on the lives of many of our students. We offer them our full support."

Roger Tanner, Head Teacher, Sutton Centre Community College - October 2005

Workshop Packages

In addition to our Lottery funded programme we run workshops for other schools and organisations. All workshops as listed below would involve our Director, our Artistic Director/Workshop Leader and a minimum of four additional personnel. The fee is tailor-made to suit individual requirements and would increase proportionately to the number of professional artists required. We are able to accommodate up to 40 pupils in each of the following sessions:

For information about our CDs, please Click Here