Kennet Opera is an amateur company formed by a group of friends who wanted to perform the music they loved in their home town. Since our first performance in 1994, our ever-widening group has remained dedicated to bringing opera and concert song to Newbury, West Berkshire and places nearby.
In everything we do we strive for high professional standards, while always remembering that the point of our existence is to give pleasure to our audience, and in doing so to have a really good time ourselves.We are a registered charity, number 1110637.
Until the 2020 lockdown we presented one large-scale production, sung in English, each year. Below is the finale from 2017, The Marriage of Figaro, at Arlington Arts near Newbury.
After a gap of nearly three years, we were back on stage for a complete opera again in February 2023: Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio presented in the Great Hall of Shaw House, Newbury. We've returned to the Great Hall in the years since then.
Check out our many years of grand opera ….
Summer concert performances in halls, churches, gardens and other local venues are a vital part of our year's work. In the lockdown years, we managed outdoor concerts; details of some recent outings are here.
A very special performance came in September 2019, when we celebrated our first 25 years with a gala concert and supper. The music started with "Soave sia al vento" from our very first opera, Cosi fan tutte; and finished with the finale from The Magic Flute, which we presented in November 2019. Two moments:
You'll see us fundraising (for ourselves or other good causes) at summer outdoor events like Newbury's Waterways Festival. And for Christmas 2018 we were singing carols at a village market: Woolton Hill, near Newbury.
