Ten years ago, three music lovers got together and had a wild idea: why not stage an opera, using St Paul’s Church in Clapham’s Old Town as the stage?

The trio – the-then vicar of St Paul’s Deborah Matthews, Australian opera singer and teacher Jennifer McGregor and Clapham-based soprano Patricia Ninian – decided to stage a performance of two short operas, Gianni Schicchi and Der Schauspieldirektor. The rest is history.

To celebrate this 10th anniversary SPO is staging a special gala concert featuring favourite arias and scenes from SPO’s back catalogue, a ‘greatest hits’ compilation from operas staged over the years.

The evening will feature excerpts from:

Der Schauspieldirektor, Gianni Schicchi, Turandot, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Orpheus in the Underworld, Così fan Tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro and Albert Herring

Soloists include:

Tamsin Birch, Charlotte Brosnan, Antonia Cviic, Fiona Hymns,

Tanya Hurst, Olivia Lewis, Patricia Ninian, Louisa Tee,

Alexandra Dinwiddie, Natasha Elliott, Sophie Horrocks, Jenny Samue,l

Alex Ackhurst, Hugh Benson, Adam Brown, Stephen Cviic

Owain Evans, Ross Fettes, Peder Holtermann & Louis Hurst

Our Patron – affectionally known as DBP – returns on Thursday 23rd March, this time to sing with three other colleagues from the world of opera, with two equally talented pianists to provide elegant accompaniment for the evening.

Our line-up of singers are more used to the Royal Opera House, the New York Met, Wien Staatsoper and the ENO’s Coliseum, than St Paul’s Church just around the corner, but that’s where they’ll be next Thursday, singing for our vital fund raising event.

Joining tenor DBP, who has most recently been seen at the Royal Opera House as Prince in Rusalka, are soprano Natalya Romaniw (returning this week from singing the role of Tosca at Hamburg Staatsoper), mezzo-soprano Katie Stevenson (who finished a run at the ENO last week in the role of Flosshilde in The Rhinegold) and baritone Ross Ramgobin (also in Rusalka at the Royal Opera House in the role of Hajnŷ).

Piano accompaniment will be by Ben-San Lau and Ed Whitehead.

To read an interview with Natalya, just click this link; to meet Katie, click here; and for Ross it’s here. To discover more about pianists San click here and Ed click here.

Thursday, 23rd February will be the fifth time that David Butt Philip has hosted his Masterclass at St Paul’s Opera, but the first time in his official capacity as our Patron.