Opera Bohemia is an opera company based in Scotland that performs operas throughout the country. The operas are adapted for small venues and are often performed in remote communities. The company began presenting operas in 2010.
History
Opera Bohemia was established by two Scottish opera singers, Alastair Digges and Douglas Nairne, with the aim of presenting opera across Scotland, introducing opera to a wider audience, especially to a younger audience, and creating opportunities for young artists. Opera performances have taken place in over twenty towns or villages across Scotland, from the Isle of Skye in the West Highlands, to the east coast, to the Scottish borders, to the Central Belt and to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Operas are adapted for a small stage and a small cast with no chorus. A piano and violin replace an orchestra. An exception to this is Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin which includes a string ensemble.
Productions and performers
Each new production leads to tours which include remote and small venues. Puccini's Madame Butterfly has featured around most of Scotland. It was also performed in London's Middle Temple. Madame Butterfly was most recently reviewed following the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015 at which Opera Bohemia has performed a different opera every year since 2010. In that first Edinburgh Festival Fringe production of La Bohème, Mimi was played by international star Pumeza Matshikiza. For Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in 2012 another international star, Australian soprano Suzanne Shakespeare, performed Lucia. Other operas in Opera Bohemia's repertoire to date are Puccini's La Bohème, Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitor and Puccini's Gianni Schicci. Regular lead performers include the soprano Catriona Clark and, Alastair Digges and Douglas Nairne. Digges and Nairne are also music directors for the productions, most of which are directed by John Wilkie,
Funding
Opera Bohemia has received Creative Scotland Lottery Funding and funding from a number of trusts, companies and individuals.
