British Youth Opera provides professional opportunities for singers, musicians and technical trainees. The participants are normally in the middle of their formal musical education or have just finished and are about to begin their professional careers.

That’s what the ‘youth’ in the name refers to – not age, but the fact that the participants are all at the beginning of their lives in opera.

More than 5,000 young people have benefitted from British Youth Opera’s training. Around half of these have been singers, and the other half music, creative and production staff: conductors, repetiteurs, directors, designers, lighting designers, costume assistants, and production and stage managers.

British Youth Opera was founded by Denis Coe MP in 1987 to give high-standard performance opportunities to singers straight out of music college. Denis was a member of the board of the National Youth Theatre and had seen that the practical experience participants were receiving was greatly enhancing their opportunity for entering the profession.

British Youth Opera will be performing at this event at this year's Gloucester Festival: