Accessible opera, by and for the people of Bristol
A singing day with Bristol Opera, on Saturday 20th September 2025
Join us for a day of fun with Bristol Opera’s legendary musical family – and sing along as we cover some of opera’s best-loved choruses.
Many of these choruses are instantly recognisable and all are wonderful to sing. As well as learning them and preparing for an informal performance at the end of the day, we will also be exploring them in the context of the compelling opera stories to which they belong.
Robert Marson – MD Richard Lennox – Pianist
We are joined by opera soloists:
Sophie Kirk-Harris – Soprano Rebecca Chellappah – Mezzo-soprano Robert Felstead – Tenor
The sessions will be taught by Robert Marson, with assistance from vocal specialists Sophie Kirk-Harris and Rebecca Chellappah for helpful tips on singing.
Book now
Tickets are on sale here, together with full instructions on how to sign up.
Here are the six choruses we will be working on, together with some online performances for inspiration. Note: These resources are in original languages, but we will be singing everything in English (with the exception of a few words of Latin at the opening to the Easter Hymn).
Chorus of wedding guests (Lucia di Lammermoor) – Donizetti
Voyagers’ chorus (Idomeneo) – Mozart
Habanera (Carmen) – Bizet
Easter Hymn (Cavalleria Rusticana) – Mascagni
Opening chorus (The Bartered Bride) – Smetana
Chorus of the Hebrew slaves (Nabucco) – Verdi
Further Details
Bristol Opera is delighted to announce the cast for our new production of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, to be performed in English on the evenings of 15th – 18th April 2026.
Marina
A girl, who is to be married
Maisie O’Shea
Johnny
In love with Marina
Robert Felstead
Barker
The marriage broker
Kevin Hollis
Vincent
To be married to Marina by arrangement
Alex Pinkstone
Pamela
Marina’s impoverished parents
Ethel-Jane Cormack
Brokenshaw
Niall Hoskin
Hattie
Vincent’s wealthy parents
Rebecca Chellappah
Mitchell
(remains to be cast)
Esmeralda
Circus characters
Tory Martin
Ringmaster
Richard Kamm
Fire-eater
Robert Aarons
Directed by Harvey Evans Musical Director Robert Marson
This is a fully staged production in costume and will be accompanied by the Bristol Opera orchestra.
Auditions for The Bartered Bride 2026
IMPORTANT NOTICE: We have had technical problems with the published auditions email address. If you have applied to this address and have not had an acknowledgement, please send your application again, to the new email address advised on the Applications document. We apologise very much for the inconvenience.
Bristol Opera is looking for solo singers for its production of The Bartered Bride by Smetana, provisionally at Redland Hall, Redmaids’ High School in the week ending 18th April 2026.
This is a fully staged production in costume and will be accompanied by a reduced professional orchestra.
Roles
Mařenka Soprano A girl, who is to be married.
Jeník Tenor In love with Mařenka.
Kecal Bass The marriage broker.
Vašek Tenor To be married to Mařenka by arrangement.
Ludmila Soprano/Mezzo-soprano Krušina Baritone Mařenka’s impoverished parents. They appear together, in Acts I and III.
Háta Mezzo-soprano Mícha Bass Vašek’s wealthy parents. They appear together, in Act III.
Esmeralda Soprano Ringmaster Tenor/High voice Indian Bass/Baritone/Medium voice Circus characters, appearing at the beginning of Act III. For Ringmaster and Indian we will consider both operatic and non-operatic voices and performance styles.
Rehearsals
Rehearsals begin in October 2025, with chorus rehearsals held on Thursday evenings. Soloists’ rehearsals will take place on Sunday afternoons by default. From January 2026, soloists will need to be able to attend some Thursday evening rehearsals as well, increasingly as we approach the performance period.
Depending on overall availabilities, we may be able to vary the rehearsal scheduling but when you apply, we ask that you note any N/As for the period 2nd November – 9th April, for the following slots:
Sundays 2 – 6pm
Thursdays 6 – 7.30pm
Thursdays 7.30 – 9.30pm
We will not need as many soloists’ rehearsals as this implies, but we’d prefer to make an early start and be able to adapt to known absences. We will build a rehearsal schedule accordingly.
You will need to be available for all the final rehearsals, including Sitzprobe, Technical and Dress rehearsals, and the performances, provisionally as follows:
Sunday 12th April, morning/early afternoon – Sitzprobe
Monday 13th April, afternoon/evening – Technical rehearsal
Tuesday 14th April, evening – Dress rehearsal
Wednesday 15th April – Dress rehearsal or performance TBC
Thursday 16th April – Performance
Friday 17th April – Performance
Saturday 18th April – Performance
Auditions
Auditions will be held at Horfield Methodist Church, Churchways Ave, Bristol BS7 8SN on:
Please note the deadlines of 14th July and 23rd July respectively.
Bristol Opera is seeking to cast children for the roles Apparition 2, Apparition 3 and Fleance for its forthcoming production of Macbeth at Redland Hall, Red Maids High School, Bristol in the week ending 12th April 2025.
This is a fully staged production in costume, sung in English. It will be accompanied by a reduced professional orchestra using the acclaimed orchestral reduction by Jonathan Lyness.
Auditions
Auditions will be held in the early evening of Sunday 5th January 2025. The provisional venue for auditions is Horfield Methodist Church, Bristol BS7 8SN. Please apply by 31st December 2024.
Please also review the extract from the draft rehearsal schedule below (published subsequently to the information above and containing more precise information on the scheduled rehearsals).
p.228 Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Neither bloodshed nor doubt shall alarm you. No one born of a woman can harm you.
p.230 Be proud and courageous! Bright and high stands your star in the skies, Till the forest of Birnam shall rise, And at last shall advance upon you.
You may hear recorded performances of the passages here. These are sung in Italian, unlike our performance which will be sung in English, using the Schirmer vocal score.
Audition – Fleance
No special preparation is requested. The audition will try out the role of Fleance under the direction of the stage director.
Bristol Opera is looking to cast Macduff for its forthcoming production of Macbeth at Redland Hall, Red Maids High School, Bristol in the week ending 12th April 2025.
This is a fully staged production in costume, sung in English. It will be accompanied by a reduced professional orchestra using the acclaimed orchestral reduction by Jonathan Lyness.
The successful candidate will also be invited to take part in a masterclass with international baritone Andrew Shore, to be held in Bristol on Thursday 30th January 2025.
Auditions
Auditions will be held in the early evening of Sunday 5th January 2025. The provisional venue for auditions is Horfield Methodist Church, Bristol BS7 8SN. Please apply by 31st December 2024.
We will be performing in English, using the Schirmer vocal score. We invite auditionees to prepare from the same edition and to sing the extract in English. You may also sing part of your extract in Italian if you prefer – though we’d still wish to hear a substantial part sung in English in some translation. For the production, everything will be sung in English using the translation in the Schirmer score.
