University College Opera, or UCOpera, is the student opera company of University College London. The operas are staged by professional singers, directors and designers, with the orchestra, chorus and some singers drawn from the student body.Maycock (24 March 1995) Founded in 1951, UCOpera is renowned for its productions of under-performed operas, which include the stagings of 3 world premières and 23 British premières to date. On 10 March 2008, UCOpera staged the UK première of Édouard Lalo's Fiesque, at the Bloomsbury Theatre.Hall (12 March 2008) 2009 saw another British première, Ernest Bloch's Macbeth.Elleson (March 2009) UCOpera extended its list of British premières by staging Gounod's Polyeucte at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2018, Smetana's Czech national opera Libuše in 2019, and Robert Ward's The Crucible in 2024. In 2025, UCOpera held the European première of Gregory Spears' Fellow Travelers.
History The brainchild of the conductor Anthony Addison, (UCL's then Director of Music), University College Opera gave its first performance in 1951 with an all-student production of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, followed by Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne. Even in its earliest years, the company's annual repertoire concentrated on rarely performed operas including: Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor (1952), Bizet's Don Procopio (1955) and Lortzing's Der Wildschütz (1958). In 1961, the company staged its first UK première, Moniuszko's Halka.
During its first 17 years, UCOpera's performances took place in the old gymnasium at University College. With the opening of the college's Bloomsbury Theatre in 1968, the company finally acquired a suitable venue for its productions. Under the directorship of George Badacsonyi who served from 1963 to 1976, UCOpera increasingly employed professional opera singers (often in the early stages of their careers) to sing the solo roles, with students making up the chorus and orchestra. Amongst the professional singers who have appeared with the company are Felicity Lott (who is now the patron of Friends of UCOpera), Robert Lloyd, Jonathan Summers and Julian Gavin. The company's productions also became more ambitious with a series of UK and world premières including: Wagner's Das Liebesverbot (1965); Haydn's Die Feuersbrunst (1966); Erkel's Bánk bán (1968); and Verdi's Alzira (1970).
A highlight for the company under the directorship of David Drummond (who served from 1992 to 2001) was UCOpera's world première staging of César Franck's Hulda in its complete form. The 1994 production used a score which Drummond restored from the composer's original manuscript.Maycock (24 March 1994) Drummond's last performance as the company's Director coincided with its 50th anniversary, the 2001 UK première of Aulis Sallinen's Kullervo.Kimberley (29 March 2001)
Under the directorship of Charles Peebles, UCOpera has produced British premières of Hahn's Ciboulette, Dvořák's Vanda, Lalo's Fiesque, Gounod's Polyeucte and Smetana's Libuše. In 2012 UCOpera produced the first staging of Rameau's Acante et Céphise since the 18th century. After staging at least one opera a year for 69 years, the continuity was broken in 2020, as the production of Haydn's L'anima del filosofo was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2022, UCOpera has been under the baton of Matt Scott Rogers. The first UCOpera production under Rogers was Carlisle Floyd's Susannah (2023). This was followed in 2024 by the company's UK première of Robert Ward's The Crucible, adapted from the celebrated Arthur Miller play. In 2025, UCOpera staged the European première of Gregory Spears' Fellow Travelers, based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, with Eleanor Strutt returning to direct.
Productions since 2001 Year Production Composer Conductor Director2025Fellow Travelers***Gregory SpearsMatt Scott RogersEleanor Strutt2024The Crucible*Robert WardMatt Scott RogersEleanor Strutt 2023 Susannah Carlisle Floyd Matt Scott Rogers Isabelle Kettle 2022 La naissance d'Osiris Rameau Charles Peebles Annelise Bucher (choreographer) 2022 Thamos, König in Ägypten (incidental music) Mozart Charles Peebles concert performance 2019 Libuše* Smetana Charles Peebles Cecilia Stinton 2018 Polyeucte* Gounod Charles Peebles Thomas Guthrie 2017 Aroldo Verdi Charles Peebles Pia Furtado 2016 La favorite Gaetano Donizetti Charles Peebles John Ramster 2015 Amadis de Gaule Johann Christian Bach Charles Peebles Jack Furness 2014 The Snowmaiden Rimsky-Korsakov Charles Peebles Christopher Cowell2013 I Lombardi Verdi Charles Peebles Jamie Hayes 2012 Acante et Céphise* Rameau Charles Peebles Christopher Cowell 2011 The Three Pintos (Die Drei Pintos) Weber/Mahler Charles Peebles John Ramster 2010 Genoveva Schumann Charles Peebles Emma Rivlin 2009 Macbeth* Bloch Charles Peebles John Ramster 2008 Fiesque* Lalo Charles Peebles Emma Rivlin 2007 Camacho's Wedding Mendelssohn Charles Peebles Duncan Macfarland 2006 Alfonso und Estrella Schubert Charles Peebles Stephen Barlow 2005 Whittington Offenbach Charles Peebles Jamie Hayes 2004 Vanda* Dvořák Charles Peebles Matthias Janser 2003 Ciboulette* Hahn Charles Peebles Daniele Guerra 2002 Benvenuto Cellini Berlioz Charles Peebles Jamie Hayes 2001 Kullervo* Sallinen David Drummond Paul Curran (* denotes British premières)
(*** denotes European premières) Productions 1951 to 2000
Year Production Composer 1951 Dido and Aeneas Purcell 1951 Bastien and Bastienne Mozart 1952 Merry Wives of Windsor Nicolai 1953 La Clemenza di Tito Mozart 1954 L'elisir d'amore Donizetti 1955 Don Procopio Bizet 1955 Bastien and Bastienne Mozart 1956 Il Turco in Italia Rossini 1957 The Devil and Kate Dvořák 1958 Der Wildschutz Lortzing 1959 The Barber of Baghdad Cornelius 1960 Beatrice and Benedict Berlioz 1961 Halka* Moniuszko 1962 Lodoïska Cherubini 1963 I due Foscari Verdi 1964 Sorochyntsi Fair Mussorgsky 1965 Das Liebesverbot* Wagner 1966 Die Feuersbrunst* Haydn 1967 Poliuto Donizetti 1967 Le cadi dupé Gluck 1967 Livietta e Tracollo Pergolesi 1967 The Tide Blacher 1968 Bánk Bán* Erkel 1969 Leonore** Beethoven 1970 Alzira* Verdi 1971 Armide Gluck 1972 Hans Heiling Marschner 1973 Stiffelio Verdi 1974 Clytemnestra Wishart 1975 Euryanthe Weber 1976 Macbeth (1st Version)* Verdi 1977 Saul and David* Nielsen 1978 The Maid of Orleans* Tchaikovsky 1979 Attila Verdi 1980 The Duenna* Prokofiev 1981 Hérodiade Massenet 1982 Oberto* Verdi 1983 Gwendoline* Chabrier 1984 Faust Spohr 1985 Le Villi Puccini 1985 Edgar Puccini 1986 Die Loreley* Bruch 1987 The Devil's Wall* Smetana 1988 Il Corsaro Verdi 1989 Giovanna d'Arco Verdi 1990 Un Giorno di Regno Verdi 1991 Lakmé Delibes 1992 Le Roi d'Ys Lalo 1993 Ruslan and Ludmila Glinka 1994 Hulda** Franck 1995 La Wally Catalani 1996 The Ballad of Baby Doe** Moore 1997 The King and the Marshal* Heise 1998 Mignon Thomas 1999 Mazeppa Tchaikovsky 2000 The Jewels of the Madonna Wolf-Ferrari (* denotes British premières)
(** denotes world premières)
References Notes
Sources Christiansen, Rupert, "South Seas romp for desert island Dick" (review of Offenbach's Whittington), The Daily Telegraph, 26 March 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2008. Elleson, Ruth, "Bloch's Macbeth" (review), Opera Today, 30 March 2009. Hall, George "Fiesque" (review), The Guardian, 12 March 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008. Kimberley, Nick, "Epic on a human scale" (review of Sallinen's Kullervo), The Independent, 29 March 2001. Retrieved 8 March 2008. Maycock, Robert, "Out of the top drawer" (review of Franck's Hulda), The Independent, 24 March 1994 Maycock, Robert, "Classical Music", The Independent, 24 March 1995 University College Opera, Company history (official website)
External links University College Opera official website The Bloomsbury Theatre, the main venue for UCOpera performances UCOpera Photo Gallery