English Pocket Opera |
| English Pocket Opera |
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Founded in 1993 the English Pocket Opera Company (formerly Camberwell Pocket Opera) is an ensemble company touring small to mid-scale fully staged accessible opera and music theatre, sung in English, with piano and occasionally orchestral accompaniment. The company tours one mainstream piece and one 'lost' or obscure opera per year, mounts a number of festival and private concerts and carries out education work with young people and adults. Renowned for its vision, humanity and accessibility, EPOC has been challenging and delighting audiences since its beginnings.
Apart from classics the company also mounts occasional concert or semi-staged performances of rarely heard operas with guest presenters and including post performance discussions. Such performances have included Massenet's Cleopatre and Milhaud's La Mere Coupable.
Education and outreach work has always been an important aspect of EPOC's activities. Almost every production since 1993 has been sign-interpreted for the deaf and all tours offer venues the opportunity of pre-show talks. Future education projects include a joint venture with the English National Opera Baylis Programme and with seven London boroughs. In 2003 alone, EPOC will be working with 9,500 schoolchildren. The company welcomes the challenge of taking the most unlikely of art forms, opera - perceived as white, European and elitist - and making it relevant and fun for some of country's toughest and most ethnically diverse communities.
The real revelation has been that small-scale performances can be just as effective and entertainingly
involving as the grandest of grand opera at Covent Garden. The company gave a fully staged performance of Rossini's opera
which the composer would have loved for the evident tingle of enjoyment coursing through the production. The audience loved
every minute.
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| Key staff | |
| Mark Tinkler | Artistic Director |
| Kirsty Harris | General Manager |
| Zoe Kilb | Project Manager |
| Anna West | Project Manager |
| Sofia Valenzuela | Evaluation Officer |
