Volunteering & Hosting
Volunteering and hosting artists during the opera season is a rewarding and fun way to be involved. It’s a great way to meet new and like-minded people, and to be a part of the If Opera story. Volunteers are the backbone of our organisation and give help in many ways including:
Accommodating singers, musicians and the creative and production team
Stewarding at our opera performances, picnic proms and concerts
Helping with hospitality during our production week for the cast and crew
Helping with set painting and prop making and costume alterations
By way of thanks for your support we invite you to join us for a programme of social events throughout the year and give you tickets to a dress rehearsal performance during our main summer season. Come and join us…
“When I started volunteering it was a way to meet new people and get involved in the community having just moved into the area. It was really the chance to work in beautiful gardens that lured me, but nine years later it is much more than that.
I have been introduced to a world I knew nothing about; from meeting a young singer at an audition to, a few months later, watching the first dazzling performance of the opera. Along the way I and all the other volunteers might well have stuffed brochures into envelopes, helped at auditions, hosted singers and musicians, fed very hungry artists, sorted and sewn costumes, carried out a myriad other little jobs in preparation, and last but certainly not least, stewarded at the events welcoming hundreds of excited opera lovers and for some, their first opera experience.
I want, as a volunteer to spend my time being part of something that makes a difference and to feel I’m being of use to a wonderful organisation that values and appreciates me.”
“We have enjoyed being on the inside of the operas and seeing something from the other side. They have to work so hard and have such a different schedule that it seems best to let them live at their own pace. We find we don't have to worry about them and just get on with our own activities. Of course the opportunity to see them in the dress rehearsal is an added joy!”
“Although we have been patrons of the company for some years, acting as hosts for If Opera's summer season has been a different and added pleasure. Over the past few years we have had a number of singers and musicians to stay and it has been a great pleasure every time.”
Could you host an artist during our opera season?
Almost without exception, all of the artists, singers and creatives involved travel to Wiltshire to be part of our season and need to be hosted during the festival; most don’t drive (we put on a shuttle bus to/from BoA train station and Church Farm), so having hosts local to BoA and within walking distance of the train station would be ideal.
As a thank you for hosting, we offer complimentary seats to the dress rehearsal of one of our operas and invites to a thank you party. There are many benefits to hosting, you get a wonderful insight to the world of opera, and many of our hosts have developed a lasting friendship with their guests and take pleasure in watching their careers flourish!
For more information please email sarahgault@ifopera.com - we’d love to meet you and tell you more about what’s involved. Or if you’d like to sign up straight away, below is a link to the relevant form to fill in and return to us as soon as possible.
If you are able to help we would be enormously grateful. The support of our hosts is invaluable and we really couldn’t do what we do without them.
Join in
To find out more about becoming a volunteer or host please get in touch: