X-Nico

10 unusual facts about Opera North


Annemarie Kremer

She has appeared at a variety of Euopean opera houses including the Opernhaus Dortmund, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Opera North in England.

Evelyn Simpson Curenton

She has been commissioned to write works for the American Guild of Organists, George Shirley, the late Duke Ellington, and her sister, the late Joy Simpson, arranged music for Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, and the Porgy and Bess Chorus of the New York Metropolitan Opera, and has performed with musical organizations such as Philadelphia's National Opera Ebony (later renamed Opera North).

Mark Shanahan

Guest conducting engagements include concerts at halls such as the Royal Festival Hall, Barbican Centre and Royal Albert Hall with orchestras including the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria.

Mark Shanahan has conducted operas in theatres such as La Fenice, Théâtre Graslin, Nationale Reisopera, Opera North, Grange Park Opera, Opera Ireland, English Touring Opera, Marseilles Opera and the Frankfurt Opera.

Oliver von Dohnányi

Oliver von Dohnányi's operatic engagements include Carmen, La Gioconda, Hamlet and The Bartered Bride for Opera North, Falstaff and Mefistofele for English National Opera, Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung at the Wexford Festival, Aïda at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Il Turco in Italia at the State Opera in Prague.

Richard Ingham

As an orchestral player he has worked with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra, Opera North and the English Northern Philharmonia.

Scott Pask

Additional credits include On an Average Day (West End) and Tales From Hollywood (Donmar Warehouse) both directed by John Crowley; Bash (Almeida Theatre, New York, Los Angeles, and Showtime); Albert Herring (Opera North U.K); The Underpants, The Bomb-itty of Errors, The Donkey Show (NY, London, Edinburgh, Cambridge), Slanguage, The Gimmick, Love's Fowl, The Beginning of August, Refuge.

Steven Sloane

In August 1999, Sloane was appointed Music Director of Opera North.

The Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood Extra

The film was shown in Leeds Film Festival in November 2008, as part of Back to the Electric Palace, with live music by Larry Goves, performed in partnership with Opera North.

The Thieving Hand

In November 2008, it was shown in Leeds Film Festival, as part of Back to the Electric Palace, with live music by Sasha Siem, performed in partnership with Opera North.


Graeme Danby

British engagements also include Bartolo in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro for Opera North and Garsington Opera; Collatinus in Britten's Rape of Lucretia at Buxton Festival; and Sacristan (Tosca), Bosun (Billy Budd), Benedict (La Vie Parisienne) and Masetto (Don Giovanni) for Scottish Opera.

Let 'Em Eat Cake

A concert version of the show was performed on BBC Radio in 1994 (with a cast that included: Denis Quilley, Kim Criswell, Joss Ackland, Henry Goodman, and Louise Gold), and Opera North staged the show, along with a revival of Of Thee I Sing, during its 2008-9 season.