Can one person make a difference? Horrified by the climate crisis, teenager Lola decides that she must fight for the future. Composer Jonathan Dove and writer April De Angelis’ new opera looks at the state of the world through the eyes of the young.
The work is premiered at Glyndebourne opening on 28 February, featuring a cast of professionals including Ffion Edwards (who recently sang the title role in Rimsky Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden with English Touring Opera, see my interview with Ffion), Madeleine Shawe, Julieth Lozano Rolong, and Ross Ramgobin, and the Glyndebourne Sinfonia alongside Glyndebourne Youth Opera, a community chorus and young instrumentalists from Brighton & East Sussex Youth Orchestra and Brighton & Hove Percussion Ensemble, conducted by Andrew Gourlay.
Here, the work’s director, Sinéad O’Neill introduces the project. Sinéad founded Cambridge City Opera to create original music theatre for new audiences. She co-created Pay the Piper with composers Ailie Robertson, Cecilia Livingstone, Ninfea Crutwell-Reade and Anna Appleby and writer Hazel Gould for Glyndebourne Youth Opera (2022), and with long-time collaborator, composer Matt Rogers, she has created Amor Mundi (conceived and written by Zsuzsanna Ardó), The Raven, On the Axis of this World and And London Burned.
Uprising is set to premiere at Glyndebourne in 2025. Could you share some insights into the inspiration behind this production and how the storyline developed?
In 2020, a man called Jim Potter received a terminal diagnosis. He lay awake at night thinking about the world and his place in it, and he was inspired to commission a new opera. He wanted it to be about young people, and about the climate crisis. The seeds Jim planted in those dark days grew into Uprising. Jim and his wife Hilary worked closely with composer Jonathan Dove and writer April De Angelis to combine a rigorous understanding of climate change and a direct, emotional engagement with one girl’s drive to change the world.
This production features themes of environmentalism and a young protagonist navigating family and societal expectations. How did these themes take shape, and what message are you hoping to convey to the audience?
The key themes of the opera were present from the very first conversations Jim and Hilary Potter had with composer Jonathan Dove and writer April De Angelis. All were agreed that they wanted their new opera to be about the world we live in today, a world where humanity faces a great crisis and where young people are calling for change. Uprising is epic, and like all great epics it shows magnificent power growing from the tiniest of seeds; one girl who dares to follow her vision. The audience for Uprising will be taken on an emotional journey through the darkest of hours, ultimately emerging into hope and beauty as we imagine a future full of life and rebirth.
Uprising features a strong community element, with a large, intergenerational chorus involving both young people and experienced singers. What does the inclusion of a community chorus bring to this production, and how does it shape the way audiences connect with the story?
The true power of Uprising lies in the community chorus. Hearing April’s words and Jonathan’s music sung by the people they were written for is real lightbulb moment. Everything makes sense when this music is sung by a big group of people of all ages from all walks of life. They are you, they are us, and they bring this story to life in a way that a professional chorus simply couldn’t do. The audience, I hope, will see themselves on stage and will connect to the story in a very direct and natural way.
Uprising blends reality with a fictional storyline. Could you discuss how this approach brings a unique perspective to the narrative?
The reality of our era is that we are facing unprecedented environmental destruction. Uprising shows that reality on stage, but through the magic of fiction we can imagine other realities, other futures. Fiction may be the most powerful tool we have to dream about what we want to happen next, and without giving the plot away, I can say that in Uprising, we dream big and we dream beautiful!
Uprising will be touring to locations like Edinburgh and Glasgow. What excites you about bringing the show to different audiences, and how do you hope it will resonate in these communities?
It’s a testament to Jonathan and April’s work that so many companies have rushed to programme Uprising even before the premiere has happened. This really is a piece that speaks immediately and eloquently to everyone who encounters it. I’m delighted that local choruses in Essex and in Glasgow are already learning the music and getting ready for their March 2025 performances and I’ll be working with those choruses to create a simple staging capturing the enchanting qualities of this beautiful piece.
Uprising involves young performers alongside seasoned singers. How does the dynamic between these groups enhance the emotional arc of the production?
It has always been a tenet of community opera that the non-professional participants benefit from being in the room with professional singers – something I personally still find immensely exciting after 20 years in the business! In this case, though, I think it’s the professional singers who are going to be inspired by the commitment and spirit they encounter in the choruses. We’ve started working already and our participants come to the work with open hearts and huge belief in what we’re creating together. It’s irresistible!
You’ve directed both new commissions and revivals of classic operas. How does your approach vary when you’re directing something like Uprising compared with, say, a revival of Il barbiere di Siviglia?
I find it so exciting to work on a new opera, where you’re discovering everything together. There’s really nothing like coming together in rehearsal and hearing the piece you’re working on for the first time. It’s bewitching. The challenge in staging well-known repertoire is to try and peel away everyone’s preconceptions and discover the piece afresh, anew, each time.
With Uprising, Amor Mundi, and King Oswald and the Raven, it’s clear you’re drawn to operas that address current social issues. How do you think opera can serve as a medium for exploring today’s challenges?
It can’t! I’m not! Let’s be clear; opera is not documentary, and it’s not realism. What opera does brilliantly, better than anything else, is to take us on a journey deep into our inner landscape, to give us direct emotional experience of a story, bypassing the intellect and going straight to the heart. And that’s what I’m always looking for; the heart of the matter, whether it’s being forced to flee one’s home, deciding to start a climate strike, going to school in a foreign language, and so on. What does it feel like? That’s what opera is good at.
You founded Cambridge City Opera, which focuses on creating innovative, collaborative works. How has this mission influenced your other projects, and what have been the key takeaways from bringing fresh voices into opera?
In all my career I have found nothing so inspiring as making new opera with new people – that is, with people new to opera, people who never thought of themselves as artists. Some of my boldest, bravest collaborators, with the freshest vision and the most open hearts, have been those who had never imagined themselves making art. How does it influence my other work – it keeps me inspired! It reminds me that making opera matters, that it’s real, that it’s something people turn to when they need solace, or inspiration, or revelation – when they need to dream.
Over the years, your work has been staged in diverse venues from the BBC Proms to Peterborough Cathedral. How do you adapt your productions to resonate with both traditional and unconventional opera audiences?
It’s funny, sometimes people who have never experienced opera say to me ‘I wouldn’t like that, I wouldn’t like opera’ – while others, more seasoned opera-goers, say ‘this piece of work is interesting, but it’s not opera’ – so somehow you can fall between two stools! But joking aside, I try to make work that is clear, that communicates in a direct manner, even if it is unusual or not like anything an audience might have experienced before. I trust the audience to come with me, whether they’ve seen twenty operas or none. I often have a specific person (real or imaginary!) in mind when I’m making a show, my ideal audience member. This person is not a seasoned or experienced opera goer, but they are generous, curious, emotional, and they come to the show with an open heart.
Looking ahead, what are some areas or themes in opera that you feel particularly passionate about exploring, and how do you see opera evolving in response to the needs and interests of new audiences?
I’m interested in taking the ordinary and discovering what’s strange about it, taking the strange and making it ordinary. Awakening the mind and senses – holding something out to the audience and saying; ‘Look! Look at this!’ As for the future, I’d like to see opera going on a journey similar to dance – where it’s possible to reimagine the great repertory pieces in the way Akram Khan or Matthew Bourne have done with ballet – wouldn’t it be fun to swap all the gender roles in a traditional opera, for instance! Opera is a robust form, I want to be playful and joyful in continuing to explore all the possibilities it can offer!
