Kent Opera

Kent Opera was England's first regional opera company, founded in 1969 to bring the finest performances of opera to enthusiasts living outside London. It ceased production in the 1990s. Since April 2016 Kent Opera the charity has worked to maintain the traditions of the original opera company in a variety of education and outreach projects as we seek to support young people and bring the transformative power of music and drama to those at risk. Our work pre-Covid took Shakespeare into several London prisons. Since then, the charity has been community based where we channel our resources in response to societal issues. With the alarming rise in statistics for knife crime, our 2023/4 campaigns focussed on the delivery of a number of restorative knife crime workshops to young people in London. Aligning this with our theatrical heritage, we created real-life "Talking Head" short film narrative, "Kofi's story", which is now shared with a wider audience to demonstrate the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife. Our 2025 initiative focuses on Violence against Women and Girls and our programme which delivers educational talks in schools across London is underway. In addition to the intrinsic value of these talks, we aim for this work to once again culminate in the production of an informative performance for a wider audience reach and impact.