Come and hear
“The Children of Beverley Gate”
A family opera by Russell Plows
29th March at 7.30pm at the Albermarle Music Centre
A free showing of the Prologue of this brand new mystery opera featuring 40 local adults and children, 4 soloists and orchestra including musical saw! This event is unticketed so just turn up and enjoy the music.
With sincere thanks to the following funders for supporting our work with communities
Our mission
Immersive
HUO is one of a handful of opera companies focusing on harnessing the directness and immediacy of immersive opera to explore current concerns and preoccupations.
Volunteers
Our work is volunteer and audience led and offers people across the North vital opportunities to experience new opera from within as volunteer performers.
Emerging Artists
In a changing opera landscape, HUO offers valuable experience to artists and creatives in work which requires a modern, direct and improvisatory approach to audience engagement.
Digital
During lockdown, HUO created the animated opera CROCODILE which was acquired by Sky Arts and we currently have further projects in development.
“I honestly felt like I was part of it”
At Hull Urban Opera, engagement is key, whether you’re an audience member or one of our amazing volunteer performers. You might be invited to enter a drawing competition or judge one! You are at the centre of the action. You’ll find us in unusual spaces around Hull where we create immersive experiences which continually reimagine what opera can be.
Our digital work has been broadcast on Sky Arts & Now TV and our version of Purcell’s famous Cold Song has been viewed on YouTube more than a quarter of a million times. We are supported by Arts Council England, Hull City Arts and a number of fantastic charities as well as Screen Yorkshire and York University.
HUO’s micro-opera, Crocodile now on YouTube
A digital opera by Lente Verelst & Lena Vercauteren
“A little bit Punch & Judy and a little bit The Shining, it’s a very dark but also very clever a capella micro-opera using all kinds of vocal effects. Well worth the 12 minutes it takes to watch” – Alexandra Coghlan, opera critic.
After three years with Sky Arts, our animated Punch & Judy opera featuring Poppy Shotts, Joanna Gamble, Alex Grainger & Neil Balfour is now available to view on HUO’s YouTube channel. It is directed by Russell Plows with animation by Anna Bean, libretto by Lena Vercauteren & music by Lente Verelst.
Click image to view on YouTube
HUO’s Cold Song seen by almost half a million people
Purcell sung by a captive yeti catches the imagination
In 2019 Hull Urban Opera created three pieces of outdoor work featuring famous arias by Purcell, Arne and Mozart. “Colonialism” gave a new resonance to the melancholy words of the Cold Genius who only wishes to be left alone to freeze once more to death.
Featuring baritone Neil Balfour and performers Ben Newton and Sue Clarke, HUO’s spin on this famous aria has been viewed almost half a million times on Youtube and touched many commenters who return to it periodically.
Click image to view on YouTube
About HUO and Immersive Opera
HUO takes a fresh view on what opera is, where it happens, who takes part & who watches
Hull Urban Opera was formed in Hull City of Culture year 2017 by Russell Plows with Ben Newton as Music Director. As Artistic Director, Russell continues to make a case for opera as a universal artform and one which can be enjoyed by any member of society.
Our innovative approach seeks to imagine opera anew with each project. We have presented opera as a guided ghost tour, a mindfulness event, an act of personal storytelling, and we continue to push at the boundaries of what constitutes an operatic work.
HUO presents immersive opera with no barrier between audience and performer. Audience members inhabit the same space as the performers. This creates the intimacy and immediacy which powers the journey we make with our audiences.
Our communities can now really experience a new opera from within by working with us as volunteer performers. HUO believes in the raw power and authenticity of community voices and they are an important force and colour within our new work.
HUO is community-led via continual input and feedback from East Yorkshire people who are volunteers, Ambassadors, voluntary performers and audience members. Suggestions are encouraged and those which gain critical mass go on to become HUO Live or HUO Digital projects.
Our work is designed to have a broad appeal via imaginative responses to topical subjects and high-quality production values & performance.