About us
Artistic Director & CEO: John Savournin
Musical Director: David Eaton
Education and Outreach Producer & Administrator: Kirsten Beveridge
Marketing and Social Media Manager: Catherine Chibnall
Charles Court Opera has been described as one of the leading and most versatile chamber opera and music theatre companies in the UK.
In 2023, the company's summer season includes a return to Opera Holland Park for their third co-production - this time to present Ruddigore - G&S ghostly operetta. They will tour their much loved production of The Mikado, including to London in September (venue TBA) and to the IF Opera Festival in August. They will also tour their murder mystery spoof featuring all the G&S operas, Express G&S, which will appear at Wilton's Music Hall in August, and on tour. They have started the year by performing their interactive musical for children, The Man in the Moon, for 12 London schools. Details of CCO's 2023/24 Christmas production are TBA.
CCO are committed to devising new work, education and outreach, recently securing a Concordia Foundation Legacy Award from Gillian Humphreys OBE, to create 'Young Audiences' projects for schools over the next 4 years. More information on CCO Outreach and Education initiatives can be found here.
CCO will release their new radio series for children 'Open Up the Opera House' in collaboration with Little Radio and CBBC's Chris Jarvis, which is supported by Arts Council England and the Concordia Foundation.
In 2022, after the success of The Pirates of Penzance, they co-produced HMS Pinafore with Opera Holland Park, and presented their acclaimed productions of Patience (Winner: Best Opera Production, Off-West-End Awards) at Wilton's and on tour, and Express G&S, on tour. They collaborated with IF Opera (formerly Iford Arts) to present The Man in the Moon, their interactive new musical for families which focusses on ecological matters, written by John Savournin and Samuel Bordoli - a former composer in residence at Scottish Opera - which was originally commissioned by the Concordia Foundation.
In 2021, they presented Express G&S in London's Pleasance theatre, before embarking on a UK tour of their brand new production of Iolanthe and their “five-star heaven” 2018 production of The Mikado. In the Winter season, they returned to the King's Head Theatre for their annual 'Boutique panto' - Beowulf: an epic panto. The production received high praise, garnering five "Offies" award nominations.
They are considered one of the champions of the reinvigoration of Gilbert and Sullivan, described as “the masters of G&S in small places” and winning the 2020 Off-West-End award for Best Opera Production for H.M.S. Pinafore.
Their notorious ‘Boutique Pantos’ are a legendary part of London’s Christmas, known for their ‘off-piste’ nature and described by the Telegraph as “an annual madhouse”.
During 2020 and 2021, CCO remained consistently adaptive and responsive. Aside from raising a significant sum for freelance performers and theatre practitioners that were engaged to be working with them, they commissioned a series of online work, including regular Choral Workshops, craft and cooking videos and their 'Dial-a-song' service, which aimed to combat loneliness and isolation during The Lockdowns.
Their 'lock down' pantomime, Snow White in the Seven Months of Lockdown, was filmed exclusively for online release in collaboration with the King's Head Theatre, of which they are proud to be an associate company. They also released a studio cast recording of Iolanthe, again in collaboration with the King's Head.
They have performed across the UK in venues ranging from pub theatres to concert halls, toured to the US and Europe, and have co-produced operas with the Iford Arts Festival and Musique Cordiale as a visiting company.
They have presented a wide range of repertoire aside from Gilbert Sullivan, including Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, Puccini’s La Bohème and Tosca, Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Impresario, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri, and an evening of the Avant Garde including music by Ligeti, Maxwell Davies and Schoenberg, linked to a composition education project supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and RC Sherriff Trust.
In 2023, the company's summer season includes a return to Opera Holland Park for their third co-production - this time to present Ruddigore - G&S ghostly operetta. They will tour their much loved production of The Mikado, including to London in September (venue TBA) and to the IF Opera Festival in August. They will also tour their murder mystery spoof featuring all the G&S operas, Express G&S, which will appear at Wilton's Music Hall in August, and on tour. They have started the year by performing their interactive musical for children, The Man in the Moon, for 12 London schools. Details of CCO's 2023/24 Christmas production are TBA.
CCO are committed to devising new work, education and outreach, recently securing a Concordia Foundation Legacy Award from Gillian Humphreys OBE, to create 'Young Audiences' projects for schools over the next 4 years. More information on CCO Outreach and Education initiatives can be found here.
CCO will release their new radio series for children 'Open Up the Opera House' in collaboration with Little Radio and CBBC's Chris Jarvis, which is supported by Arts Council England and the Concordia Foundation.
In 2022, after the success of The Pirates of Penzance, they co-produced HMS Pinafore with Opera Holland Park, and presented their acclaimed productions of Patience (Winner: Best Opera Production, Off-West-End Awards) at Wilton's and on tour, and Express G&S, on tour. They collaborated with IF Opera (formerly Iford Arts) to present The Man in the Moon, their interactive new musical for families which focusses on ecological matters, written by John Savournin and Samuel Bordoli - a former composer in residence at Scottish Opera - which was originally commissioned by the Concordia Foundation.
In 2021, they presented Express G&S in London's Pleasance theatre, before embarking on a UK tour of their brand new production of Iolanthe and their “five-star heaven” 2018 production of The Mikado. In the Winter season, they returned to the King's Head Theatre for their annual 'Boutique panto' - Beowulf: an epic panto. The production received high praise, garnering five "Offies" award nominations.
They are considered one of the champions of the reinvigoration of Gilbert and Sullivan, described as “the masters of G&S in small places” and winning the 2020 Off-West-End award for Best Opera Production for H.M.S. Pinafore.
Their notorious ‘Boutique Pantos’ are a legendary part of London’s Christmas, known for their ‘off-piste’ nature and described by the Telegraph as “an annual madhouse”.
During 2020 and 2021, CCO remained consistently adaptive and responsive. Aside from raising a significant sum for freelance performers and theatre practitioners that were engaged to be working with them, they commissioned a series of online work, including regular Choral Workshops, craft and cooking videos and their 'Dial-a-song' service, which aimed to combat loneliness and isolation during The Lockdowns.
Their 'lock down' pantomime, Snow White in the Seven Months of Lockdown, was filmed exclusively for online release in collaboration with the King's Head Theatre, of which they are proud to be an associate company. They also released a studio cast recording of Iolanthe, again in collaboration with the King's Head.
They have performed across the UK in venues ranging from pub theatres to concert halls, toured to the US and Europe, and have co-produced operas with the Iford Arts Festival and Musique Cordiale as a visiting company.
They have presented a wide range of repertoire aside from Gilbert Sullivan, including Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, Puccini’s La Bohème and Tosca, Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Impresario, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri, and an evening of the Avant Garde including music by Ligeti, Maxwell Davies and Schoenberg, linked to a composition education project supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and RC Sherriff Trust.
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THE GUARDIAN
★★★★ "Wickedly funny" |
EVENING STANDARD
★★★★ "Exquisite" "Ingenious" |
TIME OUT CRITIC'S CHOICE
★★★★
"Extremely well sung"
★★★★
"Extremely well sung"
OPERA NOW
"...A sparklingly fresh package of laughs, pathos, foolery and high-class music making."
"...A sparklingly fresh package of laughs, pathos, foolery and high-class music making."
