Opera Boys delight to be back in the UK

For the past five years they have been performing all over the world with their show combining beautiful music with funny, engaging and light-hearted entertainment in a bid to make opera accessible to all.

When did The Opera Boys begin and how did you all get together?

Two of us worked on a show in 2011 and decided to do something together. We had friends from The Royal Academy of Music and The Royal Welsh College of Music and so we kind of called the best people we knew and built the show around them.

How many countries have you performed in – any favourites?

We have performed all over the world, but it’s always nice to come home and perform in the UK.

It is difficult to popularise opera and should it be made more accessible to the masses?

The classical genre is probably the most demanding genre which does make it difficult, but we try and take the conceived ‘stuffiness’ away from it and have a bit of fun with it.

We only tend to perform the well known stuff... A lot of people probably wouldn’t want to sit and watch the full opera Turandot but Nessun Dorma, which comes from that opera, is the most famous aria in the world and most people love to listen to it.

Would you like to see more live venues for opera and do schools do enough to promote the genre?

We’re very lucky that there are a huge number of classical venues around the UK. One of Richard’s first jobs after graduating was touring in schools opera where 20 primary schools from around the country learnt the chorus parts for a new opera and then perform it with the visiting company, so there are opportunities to get involved at a young age.

Any ambitions?

To carry on making a living doing what we love doing. We’re really very lucky to do what we do!

- The Opera Boys, Lowther Pavilion, Lytham, Friday, May 18.