Live Opera for a Birthday Party

Live opera is the perfect entertainment for a Birthday Party, particularly if the guest of honour is an opera fan!  Hearing live opera up close is stunning, it provides party guests with a thrill they will remember for ever, and the entertainment can end with a rousing operatic ‘Happy Birthday’.

We will work with you to create the perfect programme for the occasion, whether you would like the performance to be in one section at the beginning or end of dinner or performed in two or three sections between the courses of the meal.  We have performed music for a birthday party during a lunch or dinner.

A ‘Surprise Start’ is always a wonderful way of kicking off the entertainment, with singers disguised as waiters or serving staff who can burst into operatic song to the amazement of the guests.  We have even shocked a birthday guest of honour himself when his family were arranging a surprise party for him – not an evening he will forget in a hurry!

Most of our performances are in the UK but we regularly travel to Europe and often perform further afield – we have presented opera for a birthday party in Marrakech, Barbados and Hong Kong.

Depending on the venue, period costume might add an extra visual impact to enhance the performance, and accompaniment is ideally a piano or backing tracks as an alternative.

The repertoire can include celebrated arias and ensembles from the operatic repertoire (such as ‘The Marriage of Figaro’, ‘La Traviata’, ‘Carmen’ and ‘Tosca’, pieces from the operettas of Offenbach and Gilbert & Sullivan, and hits from the popular musicals of Gershwin, Rogers and Hammerstein, Bernstein and Sondheim.  There is so much wonderful repertoire to choose from to celebrate at your birthday party!

Please call us on +44 (0) 207 223 5456 or the mobile 07802 183847 to discuss music for your forthcoming birthday party – one that will remain in the memories of you and your guests for a very long time!

Charity Fundraising Event

Fundraising in times of financial hardship and political uncertainty is tough, no matter how worthy the cause.  Charities now, even more than ever, need to find new, innovative ways to catch the attention of potential donors and to bring them into a ‘feel-good’ setting, where spirits can be raised as well as funds!

Traditionally, large-scale charitable fundraising has often been aimed at a luxury market; drawing perhaps from a relatively small group of donors, albeit one with all the right resources!  Increasingly, however, charities are looking to broaden their base of regular donors to include a new and larger demographic.  What better way could there be to attract a new crowd into the concept of generous and regular giving than by treating them to a spectacular event which offers a touch of luxury, something with a real ‘Wow!’ factor?

Opera can often be perceived to be a serious and heavy art form, one with which you need to be familiar in order to enjoy it.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  A gala dinner (for instance) with entertainment by London Festival Opera includes many of the best-known arias so will appeal equally to newcomers and seasoned opera lovers alike.  It will provide a sophisticated but lively and fun evening, full of drama, passion, humour and interaction with guests.  Who could fail to feel flattered to receive the attentions of Carmen as she serenades a male guest with a red rose during her infamous Habanera aria?  Or indeed, have their adrenalin levels raised by The Barber of Seville approaching them with a large and shiny blade?!  All this combined with the thrill of hearing at close range the human voice in its most refined form is an unbeatable combination.

London Festival Opera have been involved with charity fundraising events for many years, having been the vehicle for raising many hundreds of thousands of pounds for a wide range of charities, including the British Red Cross, Animal Health Trust, The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, Tusk, Cancer Research, Mencap, Barnardo’s and Tommy’s Campaign.  Venues have ranged from London Livery Halls to private country houses, including theatres, concert halls, schools and Royal Palaces along the way.  We have many years of experience creating bespoke programmes for charity events, so please do feel free to contact us if you are considering organising a special event and would appreciate advice on how best to entertain your guests for maximum effect.  As well as advice on the type of programme which would be most suitable for your cause we can also advise on sponsorship ideas which have worked and helped charities raise funds in the past.

If guests leave a fundraising event without having had their emotions heightened, their passions aroused, or their laughter muscles exercised they are more likely to leave with money still in their pockets.  If you move them with excitement, passion, laughter and tragedy all in the space of an hour, having set those emotions to some of the greatest and most rousing music ever written, you’re on to a winner.

Please contact:  Philip Blake-Jones on +44 (0) 207 223 5456 or 07802 182847

philip@londonfestivalopera.co.uk

www.londonfestivalopera.co.uk