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A new member of our team!

We are so pleased to welcome Scott Hurran as a trustee of Baseless Fabric. Scott brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience both from working within the theatre sector and as a previous Relationship Manager with Arts Council England. We’re excited to work with Scott going forward with Baseless Fabric’s next plans!

We asked him a few questions so you could get to know him:

What excites you most about working with Baseless Fabric?
I love how Baseless Fabric takes opera and theatre out into the world — meeting people where they are and making art that feels alive, unexpected, and full of heart. The company’s mix of ambition and accessibility really excites me; it proves that bold, high-quality work can also be playful and local.

What other projects have you been working on recently?
I’ve been producing and supporting new writing and artist development projects at the Mercury Theatre, while also developing some of my own film and theatre work. It’s been a busy but rewarding mix — working with emerging artists one day and planning future creative projects the next keeps things feeling fresh.

Tell us about 3 of your favourite theatre or opera experiences ever:
The Neither that Headlong did has always stayed with me — it was haunting and completely unlike anything else I’ve seen. Łukasz Twarkowski’s Rothko at the Barbican blew me away with its scale and intensity, and seeing thirty noses do a tap dance at the ENO in The Nose was so gloriously bizarre and joyful that I’ll never forget it.

 

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Opera Club in Roehampton is back!

We have started off the new year with our fortnightly fun Opera Club sessions at the brilliant Roehampton Base Youth Club. This time we are focussing on a mix of design and music based activities – plus, of course, lots of drama games! In our first session back the young people looked at costume design being inspired by celebrity looks and making their own collages and then some of their own costume pieces – including scarves, crowns and a full on ballgown!

We’re also thrilled that as this project is funded by the wonderful Wimbledon Foundation and London Community Foundation we will be taking the group for an exciting half term trip to the Wimbledon Tennis! ACE!!

 

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Autumn Concerts for Elderly Groups

After the busyness of our summer The Elixir of Love production is over and we’ve all had a much needed rest, we are pleased to announce that next week we’ll be visiting carehomes and community organisations for elderly groups across South London delivering concerts for their residents, users and staff. Our talented team will be performing a mix of opera, musical theatre, classic songs and sing-a-longs to hopefully bring a bit of joy to people’s day. 

Our team delivering these concerts this year are Baseless Fabric old favourites Louisa Tee and Elspeth Wilkes:

 

Louisa Tee

Louisa trained as an actress at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and then gained a scholarship to study singing at Trinity College of Music after which she attended the Opera Works course at the English National Opera. Louisa was nominated for best female in the Off West End awards for the role of Violetta in La Traviata at the Soho Theatre which then transferred to the Tricycle Theatre and toured to UK venues. She then went on to play The Countess, Le Nozze di Figaro which also toured the UK. Other roles include Mimi, La Boheme (Soho Theatre and UK tour) Donna Anna, Don Giovanni (Soho Theatre) Queen of the Night, Magic Flute (Hawaii Performing Arts Festival) Fiordiligi, Cosi Fan Tutte Grimeborn (Arcola Theatre) Louisa also directed Magic Flute and Orpheus in the Underworld for St Pauls Opera recently and has worked in the chorus of Opera Holland Park and Raymond Gubbay.

 

Elspeth Wilkes

Elspeth Wilkes

Born in Leigh-on-sea, Essex, Elspeth studied at King’s College, London, Trinity College of Music and Royal Academy of Music. She has performed at venues including St John’s Smith Square; Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House; St Martin-in-the-Fields; Kings Place; Trafalgar Studios; Savoy Theatre, West End as well as performing recitals in Greece, Spain, Portugal, France and South Africa. Elspeth has performed at the Ravenna music festival, Italy, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival where she won the ‘Oscar’ award.

Elspeth has worked with BBC Wales, Royal Ballet, Royal Shakespeare Company and Southbank Sinfonia and has performed for HRH The Princess Royal. She also performs regularly for the charities Lost Chord Foundation and Music in Hospitals working with people suffering from dementia.

Elspeth has worked as a repetiteur/musical director with many opera companies including Opera up Close (winning an Olivier award for La Boheme), Opera Brava, Merry Opera, Northern Ireland Opera, Kings Head Opera and Opera de Bauge.

Elspeth is the conductor of Thurrock Choral Society and assistant conductor of Barnes Choir and is a member of the Bridgetower Ensemble.

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Announcing The Elixir of Love cast

We are thrilled to be working with this brilliant group of people this summer on our brand new adaptation of Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love. We’re delighted to be working with some new people as well as welcoming back some friendly faces!

Welcome to our brilliant team!

 

Abigail Kelly – Adina

Born and raised in Birmingham, Abigail studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire graduating with a first class honours degree and continued her studies at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire of Scotland.

Whilst Abigail’s more traditional operatic roles include Pamina – The Magic Flute (OperaUpClose) and Susanna – The Marriage of Figaro (ETO), Abigail particularly enjoys highlighting the works of composers of African and Caribbean backgrounds and has performed in many one-woman-operas by composer Dr Shirley Thompson OBE including Sacred Mountain at the Tête-à- Tête festival and in Kingston, Jamaica and Women of the Windrush at the Barbican.

Abigail facilitates workshops in conjunction with Birmingham Opera Company, Streetwise Opera and The Royal Ballet and Opera as part of their Create and Sing national school’s programme. She is an advocate for encouraging young voices in classical music and recently took on the role of Vocal Lead for National Youth Choir of Great Britain during their Spring residential course and Lead Artist for Ark Birmingham Secondary Schools Choir.

Abigail directs operas for children and learning disabled audiences including How to Find Your Name for ETO 2022, devised performances for Turtle Key Arts in 2022 and 2023 and the YAM Award winning children’s opera The Wish Gatherer for ETO in 2023 and The Wellies in 2024. Abigail has directed two pieces by Cassie Kinoshi and lydia luke for Birmingham Opera Company as part of their ‘Brum Commissions’ project 2023. In 2024 Abigail was Festival Director for Streetwise Opera’s Re:Discover Festival which won an RPS Impact award in 2025.

 

Jonathan Cooke – Nemorino

Jonathan Cooke is a versatile tenor, equally comfortable on the operatic stage, concert platform, and choral circuit. He graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in 2015. Whilst studying, Jonathan sang the roles of Ruggero in Puccini’s La Rondine, Tamino The Magic Flute and Le Mari in Poulenc’s surreal one act opera Les Mamelles de Tiresias. Since moving to London, Jonathan’s operatic roles have been many and varied, though recently he has been focussing on the larger lyric roles, including Don Jose Carmen (Various companies), Rodolfo La Boheme (cover, Mid Wales Opera), Hoffmann The Tales of Hoffmann (Kentish Opera), Pinkerton Madame Butterfly (Opera Up Close), and Cavaradossi Tosca (Various companies) On the concert platform, some of Jonathan’s notable performances have been Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings and St. Nicolas, Rossini Petite Messe Solenelle and Elgar Dream of Gerontius.

Engagements this spring and summer include Dream of Gerontius (Guildford Cathedral & Johanneskirche, Düsseldorf), Rossini Petite Messe Solenelle (St Joseph’s College, Reading), Eisenstein die Fledermaus (Stag Theatre, Seven oaks), Verdi Requiem (St Martin-in-the-Fields & The Anvil, Basingstoke), and Elgar The Kingdom (Shrewsbury Abbey).

For more information, visit www.jonathancooketenor.com.

 

Jack Holton – Belcore

Baritone Jack Holton was a 2022/23 National Opera Studio Young Artist, and is currently a Young Artist with Opera Prelude and the Musicians Company. Notable awards include the Musicians’ Company 2022 Saloman Seelig Award and a Help Musicians UK Sybil Tutton Opera Award (2022 and 2021). He was also awarded the Anne Pashley and Gita Furber awards at GSMD for the academic year 2020/21, and has been an Opera Awards Foundation bursary award winner.

His roles in the last year include Julian (alternate) in The Fabulist at Charing Cross Theatre, and Fiorello in The Barber of Seville and Captor in Tosca at Opera Holland Park. He also sang at the 2024 International Opera Awards ceremony at Bayerische Staatsoper. Jack has recently played Henri in The Runaway Royal and Guglielmo (cover) in Così fan tutte at Opera North, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte for Baseless Fabric, and Count Ribbing in Un Ballo in Maschera for Chelsea Opera Group.

Other notable roles include La Poigne in Margot la Rouge, Count Anckarström in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (Opera Holland Park [Young Artist]), Sky Masterson in Loesser’s Guys and Dolls (West Green House Opera), the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Rogue Opera, The Merry Opera Company), the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Oxford Alternative Orchestra/The People’s Opera).

In Spring 2025, Jack covered the roles of Ned Keane in Peter Grimes and Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, as well as perform Count Almaviva in Figaro Cwta, an abridged version of the opera designed to introduce newcomers to opera, for school groups and music service groups, all at Welsh National Opera. This Autumn Jack will play Maximilian in Candide for WNO.

Jack also frequently leads workshops independently and with the Musicians Company in primary and secondary schools, and works with Opera Holland Park’s Inspire programme.

Jack is represented by Musichall Ltd.

 

Peter Edge – Dulcamara

Shropshire-born baritone Peter Edge is an Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Rising Star. He was a finalist in the 2025 London Handel Festival Singing Competition, the runner up of the 2024 London Bach Singers Prize, winner of the John Kerr Award for English Song and the International Medal at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod. As a principal artist, Peter has enjoyed seasons with English Touring Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, The Grange Festival, Hampstead Garden Opera, and Opera North. Peter made his role debut with The Royal Opera in the 2024/25 Season in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti/A Quiet Place and returned to perform in Verdi’s Aida.

 

 

Philippa Mo – Violin

Philippa studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing and performs extensively as a soloist worldwide. Solo tours have taken her to Australia, Brazil, China, Turkey Mongolian and Kazakhstan. She is a member of UPROAR Wales New Music Ensemble.

Concerto appearances include Piazzolla’s Four Seasons, Leeds, McCabe’s Les Martinets Noirs, Sweden, Dvorak Concerto, Exeter Cathedral and Colin Riley’s Stream-Shine, Ely Cathedral. Philippa has released critically acclaimed recordings for NMC, Dutton and Nimbus labels. Awarded Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, she won the Future Classic Women Awards 2020.

She is represented by Agrippina Concert Agency in Germany and is Artistic Director of the Richmond Chamber Orchestra in Yorkshire. www.philippamo.london

Yuliia Humeniuk – Accordion

Yuliia is an accomplished Ukrainian accordionist with an international career spanning solo performance, chamber music, and cross-genre collaborations.

She began playing the accordion at the age of seven in Ukraine. Between 2014 and 2018, she studied at Kherson Music College, performing as a soloist with the folk ensemble Vencerada on both accordion and cimbalom, touring in Ukraine and Lithuania.

From 2018 to 2022, Yuliia studied at Kharkiv National University of Arts, performing internationally with ensembles in India and Turkey.

Since moving to London in 2022, she has quickly become part of the UK music scene, performing at venues including the Royal Albert Hall (Youth Prom 2022), the House of Lords, Guildhall, and Drapers’ Hall. She also performed alongside Eurovision 2022 runner-up Sam Ryder.

During her Erasmus program in Italy (2023–2024), she co-founded the accordion quartet Harmonikós, winning the Chamber Music Competition in Ischia in 2024.

Yuliia has developed her artistry through masterclasses with renowned accordionists such as Giuseppe Scigliano, Ksenija Sidorova, and Raimondas Sviackevičius. Since 2024, she has been studying for her Master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she actively engages in chamber projects, including a performance at the Courtauld Gallery in 2025.

Recent highlights include performing in The Dowager’s Oyster operetta, joining London Concertante’s Candlelight Concert series, and participating in the World Music Festival in Innsbruck with the London Accordion Orchestra. This summer, she collaborates with Wild Arts, continuing her work across classical and contemporary genres.

 

Leo Geyer – Arranger/MD/Bassoon

Born in London of Anglo-Indian descent, Leo Geyer is a young composer, conductor, and presenter. He enjoys a busy and diverse career composing and conducting opera, dance, film, and concert music. He has established a reputation for his reimaginings, which creatively engage with music of the past, and is currently studying for a doctorate in opera-ballet composition as the Senior Music Scholar at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.

Leo’s music has been described by The Times as “imaginative and beautifully shaped”, and has received performances by ensembles including the English Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Rambert Dance Company and Opera North.

Leo began his conducting career at the Royal Opera House as a Cover Conductor for The Royal Ballet. Described by James Murphy, CEO of the Royal Philharmonic Society as “one of the great young British conductors to watch,” Leo has worked as a guest conductor with the BBC Concert Orchestra, English National Opera, Birmingham Contemporary Music Ensemble, the National Theatre, Ensemble 212 (USA), AUT (Denmark), and other ensembles.

​When he was 19, Leo founded an orchestra which has now grown to become Constella Music. He has brought together internationally renowned artists in numerous critically acclaimed performances across the UK. Last year, Leo began his training as a presenter on the BBC Open Music Programme with Katie Derham as his mentor. He made his debut at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra, for a BBC Proms performance broadcast live on Radio 3.

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Want to be part of ‘The Elixir of Love’ this summer?

We always need a few extra pairs of hands at our Street Opera performances helping out our Stage Management – giving out flyers, moving the musicians’ music stands and keeping an eye on audiences’ safety crossing roads. It’s a fab way to be part of an exciting local community event and great fun! But don’t just take our word for it – ask Kathie, who’s helped us out at our productions over the last few years and comes back each time! Read more

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Opera Club in Roehampton!

What a fantastic time we’ve been having with our Opera Club at the brilliant Roehampton Base Youth Club. Every month the brilliant Nadege Rene has been running a session for young people with other practitioners with different skillsets joining her for a variety of activities. The group have listened to a professional opera singer Louisa Tee and learnt about opera and the story we’re currently working on (The Elixir of Love), played and learnt about the keyboard and learnt new songs with MD/Pianist Elspeth Wilkes as well as writing their own new song about love! And next month they’ll be joined by a theatre designer to learn more about costumes & sets being designed for a show, and later on they’ll meet a violinist – before of course seeing the whole production of The Elixir of Love in and around Roehampton Base over the summer!

If you’re interested in joining in please contact Roehampton Base for more info.

And here’s a bit more info about Nadege who’s leading the sessions:

Nadege Rene is a writer, drama facilitator, and careers consultant who believes in the power of the performing arts to transform lives and build community. Her work includes roles with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’s Youth Company, the Young Vic’s INNOVATE programme, and The Big House Theatre Company, where her love for theatre began. Nadege has performed with the National Theatre and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, and was awarded a London Writers Award for her novel-in-progress. She has worked extensively with young people in schools and alternative education settings, and continues to support creative access and inclusion through projects like the Army of Creatives work experience programme and her current role as a Careers Consultant at St Mary’s University.

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Come join our team!

Are you an opera, music or theatre lover, who wants to be part of a small and dedicated team bringing amazing arts experiences into high streets, shopping centres, schools, carehomes and more? Baseless Fabric is on the lookout for new Trustees!

What does a Board of Trustees do?

The board are a group of people who meet to oversee and advise on everything Baseless Fabric does.

This could mean advising on project plans, providing strategic guidance, legal expertise or financial management, advising on marketing and communications, helping out at performances – or anything else!

 

What are we looking for?

We are currently especially looking for a new trustee with skills and experience in:

  • Arts management /Producing opera or theatre (possibly with a view to applying for NPO status in the future)
  • And/or safeguarding and work with young people
  • Understanding and experience of small project funded arts organisations (desirable)
  • Enthusiasm and energy for our work and objectives (essential)

Baseless Fabric believes in diversity and to make our board more representative we would really like to encourage applications from people who are disabled, people from global majority (black, Asian or other minority ethnic backgrounds) and people who are working class. No previous board experience is needed.

 

What do you need to know?

Being a trustee is a voluntary role, and the Board of Trustees are responsible for setting the vision and direction of the charity, supporting the leadership team and providing advice and insight. The board meets 4 times a year usually online. The time commitment outside of these meetings varies but we try to keep it minimal with trustees asked to offer some specific advice in their area of expertise.

 

Why be a board member?

Being on a board means you get to shape and support our work and is an invaluable chance to gain professional development and leadership experience. We are a small Board of Trustees so you have the opportunity to join a friendly team and make a positive contribution through the skills, experience and enthusiasm that you will bring to the charity. There is huge scope for future development not least through expanding our networks, improving our sustainability and helping us move to the next stage of our career. You will get to see firsthand the impact of our work with young people, older people, pop up street performances and offering something unusual in the world of opera!

 

Interested?

If you are unsure about applying, feel free to reach out for an informal chat – we’d love to hear from you!

If you are interested, please email your CV and a short cover letter, or video recording, telling us why you’re interested and what you think you could bring to Baseless Fabric to Artistic Director Joanna Turner at [email protected]. 

Deadline: 28 March 2025 at 5pm, but we’d be very happy to hear from you before then too.

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Monthly Opera Clubs starting!

We’re gearing up for an exciting few months with projects starting in March with two of our longterm partners in the run up to our street opera production of The Elixir of Love this summer. Over the next few months we will be running monthly sessions at both Roehampton Base Youth Club and the Commonside Trust Elders Lunchclub!  Both groups will learn about the story and characters in The Elixir of Love in our new version; hear an opera singer sing live and up close; learn to sing a section of the opera themselves and other fun activities! We’ll also be listening to the groups to find out what sort of things they’d like to get up to in the sessions and which artists working in opera they’d like to meet and learn from. We can’t wait to get started!!

If you’re local to Roehampton aged 6-18 or local to Pollards Hill aged over 55 and would like to get involved please do get in touch for further information.

Hugest thanks to our funders for supporting this work!

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“I could have danced all night!”

What a lovely time we had last month delivering our concerts for older people’s groups. We visited 8 different carehomes and community centre lunchclubs for older people across Merton, Wandsworth and Croydon. Our fantastic team of Elspeth on piano with Felicity or Claire singing delighted the group with a mixture of opera arias, musical theatre numbers, classical songs and a piano solo – or rather imagining Elspeth being the whole orchestra playing the overture to the Marriage of Figaro! We had such a great time chatting to everyone, hearing their stories and memories, and listening to their great singing along to classics from The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady!

“I just wanted to extend my gratitude and thanks on behalf of the team and our members for the wonderful performance put on by Elspeth and Felicity last Friday. Our members thoroughly enjoyed it and keep asking when they are returning. Elspeth and Felicity couldn’t have been more warm, engaging and entertaining.”

“I just wanted to say how much we all enjoyed the performance on Friday – it was absolutely amazing!’”

‘Thank you so much for organising yesterday’s performance. It was absolutely incredible. We had tears, smiles and sing-a-longs. A highly appreciated afternoon. They have all asked when we can relive it.”

Thank you so much for having us! And for your joyous singing along. We can’t wait to return.

 

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