May 2023
From a fan of Red Earth Opera
For the last few years some friends & I have had the pleasure of listening to excerpts from operas by the very best of eighteenth & nineteenth century composers and performed by enthusiastic members of Red Earth Opera (REO). - all this without leaving our hometown of Chudleigh.
Our local parish church provides a superb concert hall, where the audience is surrounded by period architecture as the music soars up to the rafters & we watch the light through Norman windows change colour from dimpsy to dark: from duck-egg blue to deep navy. How fortunate we are to enjoy all this right on our doorstep.
Red Earth Opera was founded ten years ago by its Musical Director, Jane Anderson-Brown. She is also the highly respected MD of, Duchy Opera & two community choirs. (They are performing, Cavalleria Rusticana and Trial by Jury in June at Truro and Falmouth.)
You would expect Jane to be an accomplished musician, and indeed she plays & teaches the flute, saxophone, clarinet & piano, but added to her undoubted musicality is a desire to bring opera to a wider audience. She has an ability to project this vision , not only to the performers under her baton, but also to the audience. Jane is helped in this by her husband, Steve Brown. He introduces each item with a witty, précis of the story & a lead into the piece we are about to hear. This is a great aid to those of us meeting a particular opera for the first time.
Recent full works include: Rossini’s “Cinderella”, Donizetti’s “The Love Potion” and Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito”, as well as popular pieces by, Verdi, Bizet, Tchaikovsky, Gounod, Puccini & others.
In their aim of making opera accessible to all, Red Earth Opera (REO) offer programmes featuring young professional/semi-professional soloists with choruses drawn from local, keen amateur singers. Added to this, and adding authenticity to the performances, they are accompanied by a live orchestra. In their mission to bring opera to as wide an audience as possible, performances are in English and performed in local venues, with charges kept low at only £10 -£12.
REO’s last two concerts have featured delightful arias & choruses from superb soloists: soprano Anna Gregory, alto Carolyn Harries, & my favourite, baritone, Alex Poulton who gave us exciting & theatrical performances of Donizetti’s, Dr. Dulcamara in The Love Potion, & a thrilling, Toreador Song from Bizet’s, Carmen.
As a celebration of King Charles’ Coronation, REO brought us a programme under the title, Kings & Crowns, with Anna Gregory & Ceri Davies as soloists. It is possible that we shall have the pleasure of hearing them again in the autumn in a semi-staged version of Smetana’s, The Bartered Bride. Something to look forward to.
I do hope more people with an interest in good, live music will come along & experience these special performances, brought to us to enjoy in our own small community.
A Chudleigh fan of REO.
From a fan of Red Earth Opera
For the last few years some friends & I have had the pleasure of listening to excerpts from operas by the very best of eighteenth & nineteenth century composers and performed by enthusiastic members of Red Earth Opera (REO). - all this without leaving our hometown of Chudleigh.
Our local parish church provides a superb concert hall, where the audience is surrounded by period architecture as the music soars up to the rafters & we watch the light through Norman windows change colour from dimpsy to dark: from duck-egg blue to deep navy. How fortunate we are to enjoy all this right on our doorstep.
Red Earth Opera was founded ten years ago by its Musical Director, Jane Anderson-Brown. She is also the highly respected MD of, Duchy Opera & two community choirs. (They are performing, Cavalleria Rusticana and Trial by Jury in June at Truro and Falmouth.)
You would expect Jane to be an accomplished musician, and indeed she plays & teaches the flute, saxophone, clarinet & piano, but added to her undoubted musicality is a desire to bring opera to a wider audience. She has an ability to project this vision , not only to the performers under her baton, but also to the audience. Jane is helped in this by her husband, Steve Brown. He introduces each item with a witty, précis of the story & a lead into the piece we are about to hear. This is a great aid to those of us meeting a particular opera for the first time.
Recent full works include: Rossini’s “Cinderella”, Donizetti’s “The Love Potion” and Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito”, as well as popular pieces by, Verdi, Bizet, Tchaikovsky, Gounod, Puccini & others.
In their aim of making opera accessible to all, Red Earth Opera (REO) offer programmes featuring young professional/semi-professional soloists with choruses drawn from local, keen amateur singers. Added to this, and adding authenticity to the performances, they are accompanied by a live orchestra. In their mission to bring opera to as wide an audience as possible, performances are in English and performed in local venues, with charges kept low at only £10 -£12.
REO’s last two concerts have featured delightful arias & choruses from superb soloists: soprano Anna Gregory, alto Carolyn Harries, & my favourite, baritone, Alex Poulton who gave us exciting & theatrical performances of Donizetti’s, Dr. Dulcamara in The Love Potion, & a thrilling, Toreador Song from Bizet’s, Carmen.
As a celebration of King Charles’ Coronation, REO brought us a programme under the title, Kings & Crowns, with Anna Gregory & Ceri Davies as soloists. It is possible that we shall have the pleasure of hearing them again in the autumn in a semi-staged version of Smetana’s, The Bartered Bride. Something to look forward to.
I do hope more people with an interest in good, live music will come along & experience these special performances, brought to us to enjoy in our own small community.
A Chudleigh fan of REO.
Cinderella - 2018
From the Audience
Cinderella was brilliant! Superb soloists, great direction that made me laugh frequently and smile nearly all the way through. The chorus sounded great, and the orchestra too, with just the occasional squeaky moment 😜. I can thoroughly recommend this for an evening's entertainment.
I couldn't agree more, the production was excellent, and the "modern" touches ie: the selfies, and hi-fives added to the fun. Everything was brilliant, it wouldn't be out of place in a large theatre setting!
I would like to say how much my partner and I enjoyed the recent event Rossini’s Cinderella at Paignton,This was my first opera it has never appealed to me,but this made me quite emotional .
The Orchestra and Singers were fantastic and have left a mark.
I thank all who performed.
From the Participants
My family loved the performance, especially my son! The feedback has been so good.
Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of such a memorable show! I had a ‘ball’ 😄 and my brother’s family are opera converts thanks to you and Red Earth. Honestly, I’ve not managed to pique their interest much up until now and they enjoyed it so much.
Just a short note to say a big 'thank you' for the opportunity to take part in the gorgeous opera. What a cast of principal singers! The audience seemed to be genuinely engaged and I couldn't fail to notice that a young lad sitting in the third row's gangway seat seemed to find all the piece's humour particularly to his liking, not least because of the extra zing resulting from Edwina's gifted stage direction. She and all the principals deserve to enjoy successful careers.
One of the nice things about REO is that chorus singers can opt in/out to each upcoming show, with its own defined dates & schedule - it's a good approach for what REO wants to do. We will be commending involvement to our singing (& playing) friends who could be interested!
Two wonderful evenings - well done!
Hiya, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed being involved in Cinderella this year and to report that I’ve had some fantastic feedback from members of the audience, including ‘Brilliant’ and ‘ we were surprised that this high standard of Opera was available in rural Devon’ (well they said Paignton…).
Thank you and Steve so much for the huge commitment and angst you go through to keeping REO up and running. I know I'm not a great tenor but I don't know where else I could have the opportunity to learn about and enjoy classical opera with such motivational leaders and privilege to sing with such amazing professionals? I count singing chorus with REO as one of my 'bucket list' experiences that I want to keep on achieving for a good while longer yet!
Thank you for the opportunity of playing with Red Earth Opera's 'Cinderella'. It was brilliant to play alongside professional opera singers and musicians and to broaden my experience of musical genres. I am proud to have contributed to bringing live opera performances to South Devon communities.
From Previous Productions
The soloists were amazingly good - what a treat to be able to sit so close and hear such good singers. The ensemble singing and chorus was great too. (Clemenza di Tito 2017)
But the highlight of my singing in recent years has to be performing with Red Earth Opera. Started by local singer, musician, and Musical Director, Jane Anderson Brown, REO provides the opportunity for local singers and musicians to perform with professional soloists. Last year we spent a weekend learning the music of Mascagni’sCavalleria Rusticana and the feeling of joy that came from singing the Easter Hymn with soprano Justine Viani is almost indescribable. If only I could bottle that feeling.
From the Audience
Cinderella was brilliant! Superb soloists, great direction that made me laugh frequently and smile nearly all the way through. The chorus sounded great, and the orchestra too, with just the occasional squeaky moment 😜. I can thoroughly recommend this for an evening's entertainment.
I couldn't agree more, the production was excellent, and the "modern" touches ie: the selfies, and hi-fives added to the fun. Everything was brilliant, it wouldn't be out of place in a large theatre setting!
I would like to say how much my partner and I enjoyed the recent event Rossini’s Cinderella at Paignton,This was my first opera it has never appealed to me,but this made me quite emotional .
The Orchestra and Singers were fantastic and have left a mark.
I thank all who performed.
From the Participants
My family loved the performance, especially my son! The feedback has been so good.
Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of such a memorable show! I had a ‘ball’ 😄 and my brother’s family are opera converts thanks to you and Red Earth. Honestly, I’ve not managed to pique their interest much up until now and they enjoyed it so much.
Just a short note to say a big 'thank you' for the opportunity to take part in the gorgeous opera. What a cast of principal singers! The audience seemed to be genuinely engaged and I couldn't fail to notice that a young lad sitting in the third row's gangway seat seemed to find all the piece's humour particularly to his liking, not least because of the extra zing resulting from Edwina's gifted stage direction. She and all the principals deserve to enjoy successful careers.
One of the nice things about REO is that chorus singers can opt in/out to each upcoming show, with its own defined dates & schedule - it's a good approach for what REO wants to do. We will be commending involvement to our singing (& playing) friends who could be interested!
Two wonderful evenings - well done!
Hiya, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed being involved in Cinderella this year and to report that I’ve had some fantastic feedback from members of the audience, including ‘Brilliant’ and ‘ we were surprised that this high standard of Opera was available in rural Devon’ (well they said Paignton…).
Thank you and Steve so much for the huge commitment and angst you go through to keeping REO up and running. I know I'm not a great tenor but I don't know where else I could have the opportunity to learn about and enjoy classical opera with such motivational leaders and privilege to sing with such amazing professionals? I count singing chorus with REO as one of my 'bucket list' experiences that I want to keep on achieving for a good while longer yet!
Thank you for the opportunity of playing with Red Earth Opera's 'Cinderella'. It was brilliant to play alongside professional opera singers and musicians and to broaden my experience of musical genres. I am proud to have contributed to bringing live opera performances to South Devon communities.
From Previous Productions
The soloists were amazingly good - what a treat to be able to sit so close and hear such good singers. The ensemble singing and chorus was great too. (Clemenza di Tito 2017)
But the highlight of my singing in recent years has to be performing with Red Earth Opera. Started by local singer, musician, and Musical Director, Jane Anderson Brown, REO provides the opportunity for local singers and musicians to perform with professional soloists. Last year we spent a weekend learning the music of Mascagni’sCavalleria Rusticana and the feeling of joy that came from singing the Easter Hymn with soprano Justine Viani is almost indescribable. If only I could bottle that feeling.
