About East End Opera
- Aims
- Artistic Director
- Trustees
- Equal Opportunities Policy
East End Opera's Aims
Our main aims are:
* To generate and develop an awareness of opera among new audiences
* To provide opportunities for young composers, singers and musicians to devise, create and perform new work
* To provide music and drama workshops for children and their families through workshop initiatives in local schools and community centres in East London
East End Opera is currently developing its own permanent ensemble, and is committed to creating partnerships with guest artists, fellow arts companies and the community.
Artistic Director - Shirley Keane
 | | Founder of East End Opera Shirley Keane is from Ireland and has lived in Stratford for the last four years. She graduated with an honours degree in acting from the Rose Bruford College and studied singing on the prestigious opera course at the Royal Academy of Music.
Shirley’s performing experience extends to traditional and contemporary opera roles, oratorio and mainstream theatre, most recently playing Valetto in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea for Opera Theatre Co, Dublin and Valerie in The Weir, by Conor McPherson at the Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke.
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She has produced and performed in concerts all over Europe in venues as varied as embassies, regional theatres, corporate business, residential and day centres and Old Trafford football stadium.
Shirley continues to work as a mentor, teacher and performer for Live Music Now!, Lost Chord, Half-moon Young People’s Theatre Co, Theatre on the Move Theatre Venture, Newceys, and acting tutor and director at the Academia Solti, belcanto opera course in Tuscany.
Shirley can be contacted at:
07989 976053
info@eastendopera.co.uk
Trustees
Mark Levermore – Chair
Mark is an award-winning filmmaker with successes in international film festivals as well as British television. A passionate advocate for the integration of media into theatre and dramatic art, he is also an active tutor and workshop facilitator working extensively in education and the community sector. He brings his skills in video production and innovative teaching techniques to a varied cross section of the community in East London where he has been a resident of Hackney for the last 15 years.
Caroline Wilson – Treasurer
Caroline Wilson has lived in Stratford, East London, for six years since graduating with an honours degree in Accounting and Finance at the University of Glasgow. She initially moved to London to work at the Millennium Dome visitor attraction and continued to work in visitor services at the Museum of London as an events organiser. The experience of working and living in areas of East London that had recently benefited from grant funding and public investment encouraged her to pursue a course in Urban and Community Development. Caroline has continued to work in the field of regeneration and is currently Programme Officer for the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation.
Katrina Wilson – Secretary
Katrina Wilson was born and brought up in Inverness in the north of Scotland, and studied Psychology then Library and Information Management before moving to London in 1997. She has lived in West Ham for six years, and enjoys being involved in the local community through community forums and events, and attending adult education classes in the area. Katrina works as an Information Officer at The British Association for Adoption and Fostering, a national charity and membership organisation.
Helen Capper
Helen Capper works for Trinity College London, a leading examinations board for the Performing Arts and English Language. She studied International Relations at Nottingham Trent University followed by two and a half years teaching in Japan. Before she settled in Stratford, where she has lived for four years, Helen travelled, worked and studied in Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and France. She plays clarinet and is a keen concert goer.
Zeb Soanes
Zeb Soanes studied drama at the University of East Anglia, gaining a first for his creative writing on the acclaimed course led by the Poet Laureate Andrew Motion. After graduating he toured the UK as an actor with numerous Shakespearean roles, the traditional stint in weekly rep and he taught Drama at Langley School, Norfolk. It was as a member of an improvised comedy team in a satirical sketch-show that he first caught the attention of the BBC. His first job for the BBC in London was as a television continuity announcer for BBC 1 and BBC 2 before being chosen to launch the digital television channel BBC FOUR where he was the network's sole announcer. From there it was a short hop to his current home at Radio 4, where he fulfilled a long-held ambition to put the nation to bed with The Shipping Forecast. As a board member for East End Opera Zeb brings a broad love of music and considerable experience of the media with connections in Radio, Television and Theatre.
Mark Smith
Mark Smith lived in East London for ten years having moved there, to study Art & Film Theory at University of East London. He now works as a Marketing Manager for a technology company and is still a keen patron of art and music. As a member of the East End Opera board he hopes to help bring opera to places and people that would not necessarily have the opportunity to experience it. Mark brings a wealth of experience in the corporate sector offering firm business support to East End Opera so that it can realise its full potential.
Ben Haigh
Ben Haigh trained as an actor at Rose Bruford College, London. His acting work has taken him from Northern Ireland to the Middle East. Recent credits include; Salty in Teechers at the Barons Court Theatre, Darren in the No.1 UK Tour of Girls Night Out, as well as numerous short film roles. In 2003 Ben set up Dog-Eared Productions, directing and producing 'Someone Who'll Watch Over Me' on the London Fringe. In 2005 he graduated from the Central School of Speech of Drama with Qualified Teacher Status. He now combines professional acting work with secondary school teaching.
Equal Opportunities Policy
East End Opera aims to ensure that as an employer, service provider and through its work in partnership with all those with an interest in the performing arts, no individual or group experiences discrimination, harassment or victimisation on any grounds.
We recognise the need to continuously develop and review employment and volunteering policies and procedures to ensure recruitment, training, development and promotion decisions are made on the basis of competency, performance and ability. In the area of service provision our aim is to provide equal access to East End Opera's services for all people.
In working towards equality of opportunity, East End Opera wishes to establish a culture that enables employees to successfully balance work requirements with domestic and personal responsibilities.
All those involved in the work of the company are expected to demonstrate a commitment to equality of opportunity by implementing the principles of East End Opera's equal opportunities policy and procedures. The company will encourage this commitment by actively creating awareness.
