​A Christmas Concert
Rocket Opera's international and regional artists together perform scenes from La Boheme, Hansel & Gretel, Die Fledermaus, Messiah, festive art song and traditional music.
Thursday 20th December 7pm
Jesmond United Reformed Church
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Tickets £10

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2018/2019 Season so far! 

Rinaldo & The Farmer

Rocket Opera and the William Shield Festival present a concert performance of William Shield's ballad opera The Farmer and a shortened version of Handel's Rinaldo.

Tues July 10th 2018
St George's Church, Jesmond

Wed July 11th 2018
St Mary's Visitor Centre, Gateshead
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Cast & Creatives, Rinaldo:
Goffredo - Kath Ireland
Rinaldo - Charlotte Yandell
Almirena - Niamh Carr
Araldo - Tom Asher
Argante - Tamsin Davidson
Armida - Rosie Kat
Piano - John Treherne
Harpsichord - Austin Gunn

Cast & Creatives, The Farmer:
​Fairly - Tamsin Davidson
Total - Kath Ireland
Valentine - Alex Akhurst
Farmer Blackberry - Tom Asher
Betty Blackberry - Niamh Carr
Jemmy Jumps - Austin Gunn
Molly Maybush - Rosie Kat
Rundy - Chris Elliott
Landlady - Charlotte Yandell
Louisa - Lizzie Nicholson

William Shield Festival Orchestra 
Conductor - John treherne


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HMS Pinafore 

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​Rocket Opera and The Maltings Theatre present a new production for Berwick Festival Opera of Gilbert & Sullivan's nautical operetta HMS Pinafore with a new orchestration by Matthew Rooke.

August 25th & 26th 2018 
The Maltings Theatre, Berwick Upon Tweed

Cast & Creatives:
Sir Joseph Porter - Euan McIver
Captain Corcoran - Phil Gault
Ralph Rackstraw - Austin Gunn
Dick Deadeye - Graeme Danby
Bill Bobstay - Tom Asher
Bob Becket - Jacob Robson
Josephine - Fae Evelyn
Hebe - Lizzie Nicholson
Buttercup - Valerie reid
Ensemble - Jane Burnell, Niamh Carr, Kath Ireland, Rosie Kat, Zachary Kleanthous, Rhys Rodrigues

Berwick Festival Opera Orchestra
Conductor - Peter Ford
Repetiteur - Julie Aherne

Masterclass

Rocket Opera presents a masterclass with international opera conductor and coach Peter Ford, repetiteur Julie Aherne and vocal consultant Austin Gunn.

Fri 28th Sept
6pm-9pm &
Sat 29th Sept
10am-5pm 

If you would like to register to take part in this workshop please email rocket opera via the button below.
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Singers will work with Peter Ford and Julie Aherne (Rocket Opera's guest principal repetiteur) on arias by verismo composers (Cilea, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, Puccini etc)

International conductor and accompanist, Peter Ford, is artistic director of Black Cat Opera, principal guest conductor to Rocket Opera and as conductor and coach for Melofonetica in the UK and in Italy and has also appeared as accompanist in recital   at the Tíbrá International Festival in Reykjavík, Iceland.

He has recently conducted Mozart Cosi Fan Tutte at the opening night of the Birgitta Festival in Tallinn, Estonia with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Puccini La Boheme, Verdi Falstaff, Bizet Carmen, and Mozart Don Giovanni in London with Black Cat Opera and Don Giovanni, Donizetti Rita and Sullivan The Mikado and HMS Pinafore for Berwick Festival Opera. 
For Winterbourne Opera he conducted Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro & Cosi Fan Tutte, Bizet Carmen, and Strauss Die Fledermaus. 

Future engagements include repeat performances of Donizetti Rita, and new productions of Leoncavallo Pagliacci, Wagner The Flying Dutchman, and Bizet Carmen.

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Masterclass

Rocket Opera presents a masterclass with ROH, WNO and NOS Italian coach Matteo Dalle Fratte

​Sat 3rd & Sun 4th November 2018

If you would like to register to take part in this workshop please email rocket opera via the button below.

Singers will work with Matteo Dalle Fratte on Italian songs and arias from 17th, 18th and 19th Century.

Dr. Matteo Dalle Fratte is an Italian tenor, musicologist and coach..

Following a research fellowship at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama  Matteo founded Melofonetica  to promote and preserve the correct use of Italian language in opera.

Matteo is a Professor of Italian at GSMD, Italian Coach at the Royal Opera House, the National Opera Studio and the Royal College of Music, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Matteo has coached for a wide range of opera productions for the Royal Opera House, Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras, Opera North, Welsh National Opera, Grange Park Opera, Classical Opera, Nevill Holt Opera, Opera Rara, Arcangelo, La Nuova Musica, Raymond Gubbay and La Serenissima.

Before moving to the UK, Matteo worked on musicological projects in collaboration with the University of Padua and the University and Conservatoire of Bologna. He was also journalist and music critic for Rassegna Melodrammatica of Milan and the newspaper Gazzettino.

Opera Recital

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Rocket Opera & The Maltings Theatre present a recital of Christmas opera favourites as part of Berwick Festival Opera's season.

Cast & Creatives:
Katie Oswell
Tamsin Davidson
​Austin Gunn

December 19th 2018
​Maltings Theatre, Berwick upon Tweed


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A Christmas Concert

Rocket Opera artists & Rocket Opera  Ensemble perform winter themed operatic scenes and your favourite festive music in the first ever Rocket Opera Christmas Fundraiser Gala compered by our honorary president the international opera star Graeme Danby.

Cast & Creatives include artists from our productions of La Scala di Seta, The Mikado, Carmen, Rosina, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Rinaldo & HMS Pinafore.

Jesmond URC, Newcastle

Masterclass

Rocket Opera presents a masterclass with international tenor & Rocket Opera director Austin Gunn 

Sat 5th Jan &
Sun 6th Jan
2019

If you would like to register to take part in this workshop please email rocket opera via the button below.

Singers will work on English language repertoire (or English translations) 
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​Austin Gunn's roles include Vorsinger Zaide (Scottish Chamber Orchestra & Sir Charles Mackerras), 1st tenor Soloist Curlew River & 2nd Lehrbube Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra) all for the Edinburgh International Festival.  cover Don Ottavio Don Giovanni (d. Sir Thomas Allen) for Scottish Opera, Manager The Waiter’s Revenge and Martin Hummus for the Musica Na Fabrica Festival, Lisbon (d. Max Hoehn), and his extensive work with English National Opera includes cover Pliable/Superstition A Pilgrim's Progress and cover Dantine The Perfect American, Guest John Cage Dinner Party for ENO MusiCircus, Gizmo 3 The Way Back Home and Guard Between Worlds in preproduction showcases, and for the past three years as a member of ENO Opera Squad as Nanki-Poo The Mikado, and Don Ottavio Don Giovanni. 
 
Austin was head of studies to the international training, research and performance facility OperaLab and has given masterclasses at Hull, York, & Durham universities, the Cite des Arts Internationale in Paris and in Brussels for OperaLab.