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
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Founder of East End Opera Shirley Keane is from Ireland and lived in Stratford for five years. Having had training in both theatre and opera, at Rose Bruford College and winning a scholarship to attend the Royal Academy of Music, Shirley is a performer whose experience ranges from traditional and contemporary opera roles to mainstream theatre.
Shirley has performed with among other companies, Opera Holland Park, Royal Academy Opera, Opera Theatre Company, Opera Ireland and Basingstoke Haymarket Theatre. A singer and actress of wide experience her work ranges from the role of Valerie in The Weir to singing the national anthems at Old Trafford for an England v Macedonia football international. |
Shirley directed East End Opera’s first professional opera, The Four Note Opera, at the Rosemary Branch and adapted and directed a rock and roll version of the Tempest for the Newham Young People’s Chorus at the Royal Festival Hall. She is currently directing the spring and summer term opera scenes for the Birkbeck University Foundation in Opera Course and regularly directs opera scenes and teaches young professional singers at the Accademia Solti, Te Kanawa run annually in Tuscany.
A mentor to young musicians with Live Music Now, Shirley regularly runs workshops teaching drama and singing to children and young people from early years to adulthood for Tower Hamlets Music Service, Half Moon Young People’s Theatre and Theatre Venture. Most recently Shirley has taken on the Creative Directorship of the Newham Young’s People Chorus, working with teachers and pupils from across Newham to deliver a celebratory concert at the Royal Festival Hall in July 2009.
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 since 2000, and is 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.
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.
