Call 0121 778 3637
Tickets from £10. Students price £5.

This year’s main production is the fantastic operatic double-bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci.
Directed by Rahcel Skinner and Phil Ypres-Smith it is proving to be a dramatic pairing. Both novices to opera and regaulr audiences will find the plots easy to understand as they are based on the Schirmer English translations, and are bite-sized chunks of operatic splendour.

email: info@midlandmusicmakers to reserve tickets, or call 0121 778 3637 to purchase.

If you have suggestions for inclusion feel free to email.

See you at rehearsals!

Puccini comes to Olton and Hagley!

Enjoy an evening of uplifting and powerful music from Puccini, as MMM presents scenes from Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Turandot, Sister Angelica, La Boheme and the Kyrie and Gloria from his ‘Messa di Gloria’.

St. Saviour’s Church, Hagley
Saturday 19th April 2008

Park Road, Hagley (at the traffic lights nr Haybridge School)
Refreshments available
0121 778 3637 or 01384 374 531

CARMEN
November 4th to 8th 2008

An explosive performance by the city’s best am-opera company.
Artistic Direction Rachel Skinner
Musical Direction Phil Ypres-Smith
Set design Chloe Gamby
Reduced score Eric Wetherell
Orchestra Queens Park Sinfonia

Audition for CARMEN

Auditions will take place in May 2008.
Call lorraine now on 07971 673 060 or email info@midlandmusicmakers.org
Register your interest, and you will be updated with dates, times and pieces.
Chorus welcome.

Support for Marie Curie Cancer Care

Midland Music Makers Opera Company are proud to support Marie Curie Cancer Care as our nominated charity.
Come and support our amazing little opera company, and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

We’re the only remaining Opera company in the city run for and by non-professional singers

Come and sing with Midland Music Makers Opera Company. We’re the only company around with whom you can take part in a full chorus and cast of non-professional singers, actors, technicians , dancers. The main opera each year is supported by a professional group of players, and is fully costumed and staged.
We’re an exciting group to belong to, and all new members are warmly welcomed. Call 07971 676 060

Rehearsals each Thursday

St. George’s Church, Highfield Road Edgbaston.
From 7.30pm for chat and chairs out, 8pm start singing.
All singers welcome, at any time of the year, though places in either the chorus and cast for Masked Ball aren’t available now.

For all rehearsal dates - see ‘Members Area’

We honour the memory of our loved and respected President, Dr. Arthur Street, and his wife Kath, who both died recently

Arthur Street was founder and visionary of Midland Music Makers Opera Company. A born leader, his work as a respected metallurgist led him to become a best-selling author. He was a family man, and passionate about music.
Arthur founded MMM in 1939 as a choir, which soon grew in confidence and reputation. In 1946 Arthur, who had a considerable knowledge of opera, decided to stage a production of ‘Prince Igor’. Kath, his wife, helped with costumes and the whole company pitched in making sets and dressing the production.
It was a resounding success, and set a course which was to affect the lives of hundreds of singers, musicians and stage technicians for the next 60 years.
Arthur not only conducted, but produced many of the early operas, driving up from London for rehearsals, and back down again straight afterwards. Never tiring of his work, he provided enormous inspiration and leadership as the company grew and enjoyed bringing on new talent, revelling in their moments of glory. Midland Music Makers would not be the company it is, if it were not for his dedication and spirit. He has touched lives, and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it! A lot of members are new to opera when they join, and it is quite usual for those who have little or no experience singing publicly to come along and be hooked by the whole experience. It is the chorus members who are the backbone to any opera, and when we all pull together, what a sound we make! Check out our Membership or Contact us links or just call 07971 673 060 for more information.

Experienced Singers

Looking for an outlet for your talents? Something to keep the chords oiled? Midland Music Makers is full of talented singers whose lives are so busy that their talents could easily go to waste. We hate waste! Come and give your voice some action with the most highly respected Opera Society in the Midlands. Check out our ‘Membership’ or ‘Contact us’ links or just call 07971 673 060 for more information.

Past members

You know who you are!
Wouldn’t it be great to be part of a large opera production again. Well there’s no time like the present. Anyone returning to the company will be given a warm welcome, so go on, be part of it…. we’re waiting for your call… Check out our Membership or Contact us links or just call 07971 673 060 for more information.

Expect a very warm welcome!

Concert version of Eugene Onegin.
7.30pm at St. Thomas’ Church, Stourbridge.

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A fabulous performance combining the experience of the most respected amateur Grand opera company in Birmingham with two of the most important performance schools in the country.

Musical Director Phil Ypres Smith

Producer Sue Marshall

Cast and Chorus from all over the midlands

» Printable PDF booking form | synopsis.

The home of Madame Larina, 19th Century Russia.

Madame Larina lives in the country with her two daughters Tatyana and Olga and their nurse. One morning, while Tatyana and Olga sing of loves to come, Madame Larina and their nurse, Filipyevna, talk about old times and the loves they have lost. Peasants return wearily from their work and give thanks for the end of harvest to their Ladyship, Madame Larina. Refreshed, they dance and sing folk songs.

Olga, a flighty girl, is engaged to the romantic Lensky and cordially welcomes Lensky’s new friend and neighbour, Eugene Onegin, to the family home. Onegin is bored in the country but as he and Tatyana talk together the innocent Tatyana falls in love with him, believing him to be the man of whom she has always dreamed .

Tatyana retires to her room, where Filipyevna entertains her with tales of her early life. Unable to concentrate on anything but Onegin, she dismisses Filipyenva and begins to pen a letter to Onegin. With longing, yet with fear she expresses her deepest feelings on the paper. In the end, she seals the life-changing letter and in the morning she persuades a worried Filipyevna to ask her grandson to deliver it to Onegin

In the orchard, later that morning

During a gathering of dancing peasant girls, Onegin visits Madame Larina’s home again, and this time cruelly rejects Tatyana, believing her to be below his station, and knowing he could never be true to her. Tatyana is broken hearted.

20 minute INTERVAL

At a party held in honour of Tatyana

The widow, Larina, gives a party for her daughter, to which all the local gentry are invited, including Onegin. Bored again, he toys with Olga for company, who is flattered and enjoys the attention. She ignores Lensky’s pleas to stop. The guests are delighted as Triquet, a French gentleman, consents to sing a song which he dedicates
to Tatyana. During the dancing, Lensky’s jealousy destroys the convivial atmosphere, and to the horror of Madame Larina and the gathered guests, he finally challenges Onegin to a duel.

In a field, early next morning.

Lensky and his second, Zaretsky, prepare for the duel. Lensky sings a melancholic aria by way of a farewell to a once happy life, his one regret being the loss of Olga. Onegin arrives late, hurriedly offering his servant, Guillot, as his second and, as they steel themselves for the duel, they sing of their sadness at the hopelessness of the situation. Distraught, Onegin kills his dear friend, as his honour and duty dictate.

5 minute Pause

A palace in St Petersburg - two years later

At a ball in the palace of Prince Gremin, Onegin sees Tatyana again. Against a backdrop of high society dance he cannot believe the transformation in her. She is now married to the Prince, and his feelings toward her are stirred into life. He regrets having passed her by so cruelly, and longs for a reconcilliation. Prince Gremin sings to
his guests of his love for dear Tatyana, but this does not dampen Onegin’s selfish thoughts. He asks her to meet him later.

When they are finally alone, it is Onegin who is struck down with desire, and Tatyana who tries to keep her distance. Despite stirrings of feeling for him, she reminds him of how deeply she has been hurt. Undeterred, he pleads with her, and momentarily they sing of what could have been. Tatyana knows that it could never be what she had hoped for, and how much she loves her husband the Prince. She asks Onegin to remember his path of honour and relinquish his feelings for her. She then finds her strength and leaves Onegin devastated and hopeless.

CURTAIN

Based on Pushkin’s story, ‘Eugene Onegin’ is an interesting comment upon status, love, and honour. Tchaikovsky’s music, with echoes of so many of his major works, beautifully expresses the dark and the light of this dramatic piece.

The stall, devised and produced by Malcolm and Lorraine, looked really good compared to a great many, and with our members out front to meet and greet passers by, we reached out to an enormous number of people. Thanks go to everyone who really pulled out the stops and leafletted the great and the good of Birmingham.

The three performance slots were at the CBSO Centre, The Flapper and Firkin and Brindley Place. All events had appreciative audiences, and were fascinating to take part in. Our thanks go to Phil and the performers who sang their pieces beautifully in public for the first time, and made a superb impression.

I think we all enjoyed the opportunity to plug Midland Music Makers and to take part in the fantastic ArtsFest. We met a lot of interesting people during the two days, and received support from our audiences too. This kind of event goes to show what a thriving, energetic, talented and friendly City we are. We should all be very proud, and look forward to taking part next year.