Always on
This project successfully funded on 17th February 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Cambridge Handel Opera | Handel's "Imeneo" 1740
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Aim
Please help us raise £12,000 to support our 2026 production of Handel’s “Imeneo” and to launch ‘Opera Makers’, our education programme.
Give a young person their first step into opera with Handel's Imeneo 1740
OUR AIM
In 2026, Cambridge Handel Opera Company (CHOC) will stage a fully professional production of Handel's Imeneo and launch 'Opera Makers', a new programme giving teenagers a chance to step inside a professional rehearsal room and help shape a real opera.
'Opera Makers' places young people at the centre of the creative process. Through a series of workshops on weekday evenings from January 2026, up to 25 young people will explore staging, movement, storytelling and design. They will work directly with CHOC’s Stage Director Guido Martin-Brandis, Lighting Designer Trui Malten, Set & Costume Designer Margaret Steinbach, and singer Lisa Dafydd. The young people's ideas will help inform the 2026 production. For many, 'Opera Makers' will be their first chance to discover their creative voice and to see it valued by professionals.
'Opera Makers' is a new and vital direction for CHOC. We want to bring artistic excellence and youth-led creativity together, giving young people confidence, new skills, and the extraordinary experience of helping build a professional opera from the inside.
THE PRODUCTION: HANDEL'S IMENEO 1740
With this staged production of Handel's Imeneo, CHOC will maintain its core aim of giving persuasive and historically inspired performances while offering an opportunity for young people from the local area to be intrinsically involved in the creative process.
Artistic Director Julian Perkins and Stage Director Guido Martin-Brandis will work together to empower young people and nurture talent, creating significant work for freelance professional period musicians and providing them with the opportunity to work with the next generation in new settings.
Handel’s Imeneo is a rarely performed story of love, loyalty and personal integrity. Our 2026 production will bring this intimate work to life for modern audiences while giving teenagers a rare chance to see how an opera is built and to contribute to its creative process.
Through workshops, mentoring, and performances, CHOC will showcase a new model for inclusive, community-driven opera-making.
Our professionally staged production will be presented in a four-night run of performances on 23, 25, 27 and 28 March 2026 in an original Georgian theatre, at The Cambridge Buddhist Centre.
OUR CAST
We are thrilled to have an internationally acclaimed cast of singers for our production:
Timothy Nelson - Imeneo
Bethany Horak-Hallett - Tirinto
Ellie Neate - Rosmene
Lisa Dafydd - Clomiri
Trevor Eliot Bowes - Argenio
You can read more about our cast here:
https://cambridgehandel.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/
ABOUT US: CAMBRIDGE HANDEL OPERA COMPANY
Led by Founding Artistic Director and harpsichordist, Julian Perkins, and Associate Director, Ruth Kiang, Cambridge Handel Opera Company is dedicated to the historically-inspired performance of Baroque opera and early music, with a special focus on the works of George Frideric Handel. Our mission is to combine scholarly research and musical excellence with innovative theatricality, bringing these works to life for contemporary audiences.
With ‘Opera Makers’, we are thrilled to be marking a step-change in how we create and deliver this work.
https://cambridgehandel.org.uk/
WHY YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS
In Cambridge, too many young people do not have access to sustained, world-class creative opportunities. Opportunities that can unlock talent and develop potential. 'Opera Makers' is designed to change that. It will be free, fully supported, and open to teenagers who might otherwise never have the chance to take part in something of this scale. Featuring a world-class cast of singers and musicians, led by Julian Perkins, our production promises to be revolutionary for young people and for our audiences.
The project is already more than 50 percent funded, with generous support from the Continuo Foundation and Angel Early Music. To deliver 'Opera Makers' at the standard young people deserve and to support our professionals we urgently need to raise a further £12,000.
This last stretch of funding will decide how many young people we can welcome and how fully they can participate. Your support now will make the difference.
PLEASE SUPPORT THE NEXT GENERATION
Your donation, large or small, will help us remove barriers, offer free creative workshops to young people, support emerging artists and bring a beautiful but neglected opera back to the stage.
Thank you for helping us open the door to the next generation of opera makers.
Please share our campaign.
https://cambridgehandel.org.uk/
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made