Going for Gold campaign to support RhineGold, Summer 2021

As part of our next steps towards Wagner's RhineGold and beyond, we’re aiming to raise £100,000 between January 2021 and June 2021, building on a generous donation of £10,000 from the George Cadbury Fund.

Benedict Cadbury, Trustee of the George Cadbury Fund, said:  

“Sir Adrian Cadbury was patron of the fledgling City of Birmingham Touring Opera when Simon Halsey was its founding Music Director. 30 years on, as the company strives towards a new future, the Music Director’s baton has been passed to Alpesh Chauhan, and its work is needed more than ever. The economic effect of COVID-19 is to reduce available jobs, which hits hardest young people and the disadvantaged. Artists and musicians who create local work opportunities contribute to entrepreneurship in the West Midlands, and we should therefore recognise their special place in the cultural industry and give them our full support. Like my father, I consider it important to support art forms which contribute to the local economy, something which Birmingham Opera Company does spectacularly well. This is a real example of Art working in the service of Society, which contributes to a better world. This formula is unique in Europe and we count ourselves fortunate to have it firmly based here in Birmingham.”

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Read more about our first phase of Going for Gold which ended November 2020

Thanks to 94 donations from individual donors, all matched pound-for-pound by the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation (UK), we raised a grand total of €46,702 through the FEDORA platform, exceeding our target of €45,000! Thank you to everybody who donated to the appeal – we couldn’t have done it without you.

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, founder of the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation said:

   

“In this year above all, my primary concern is the well-being of those talented artists now embarking on careers against such insuperable odds. It is not just opportunities to earn enough to live, but the chance to practise and improve the craft in which they have invested so much time and dedication. So, Birmingham Opera Company’s intensive coaching by top mentors and challenging rehearsal process offers a lifeline, which I know will be eagerly grasped by those singers selected. I for one can hardly wait to experience the result next Summer.” 

Find out more about the vision - have a look at our video created especially for the appeal below.