THIRTY YEARS OF BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA

Thirty Years Of Bampton Classical Opera

This short book is a personal recollection to celebrate thirty years of Bampton Classical Opera. Its character is, I hope, cheerfully anecdotal and is far from being an academic study – that weightier version remains to be written. Produced to accompany a 30thanniversary exhibition at the Bampton Community Archive, this account is unashamedly Bamptoncentric, but also touches on many activities of the company across England. Demand on space means that many who deserve honourable mention are omitted, and what may seem surprising is that only a handful of the many musicians whose skill and enthusiasm have brought us such success are named. Our website currently lists 27 conductors, 16 directors and 103 solo singers, to say nothing of the many who have sung in choruses or the hundreds who have played for us in a variety of orchestras – our largely locallydrawn Orchestra of Bampton Classical Opera, the periodinstrument Bampton Classical Players, the London Mozart Players and CHROMA, as well as other groups. We have identified and promoted numerous outstanding young musicians at an early stage in their careers. If you glance at the websites of, for example, conductors Edward Gardner and Christian Curnyn, directors Alessandro Talevi and Harry Fehr, singers Rebecca Bottone, Paul Carey Jones, Alessandro Fisher and Benjamin Hulett – to name just a small handful - you will realise how Bampton musicians have gone on to outstanding national and international careers, something of which we are immensely proud.