Not what you expect from opera 

Michael Tippett's The Ice Break WARNING FLASHING IMAGES - DURATION 15 Seconds

We believe that opera can speak to everyone. We reflect the city we work in – with our audiences, artists and stories that we tell. The envy of the classical music world, our ground-breaking work constantly attracts new and ever-changing audiences. With a full time staff of only 4, a single office in Birmingham and no fixed venue, we are always out and about and draw some of the world’s most exciting artists to Birmingham and train hundreds of volunteer participants and emerging artists to create a large-scale performance in an extraordinary space.

Founded by international opera director the late Graham Vick, Birmingham Opera Company continues to makes world-class opera in the UK’s youngest and most diverse city. Succeeding at the highest artistic level, we regularly compete for prizes with the titans of opera...and win.

We perform in aircraft hangars, power stations, nightclubs - once we even performed in a burnt-out ice rink. The audience moves with the action, experiencing the opera by being a part of it and recognising themselves in it.

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What others say about us 

"Ecstasy from Birmingham Opera Company..... incontestably the most artistically significant force in British opera this century." 

- Richard Bratby, The Spectator, August 2021

"The international, multicultural, multi-everything cast was expertly chosen."

- Fiona Maddocks, The Observer

"BOC’s work remains as sharp and urgent as ever – a power surge feeding into opera’s electricity supply."

- Erica Jeal, The Guardian

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See for yourself

Check out our recent awards or watch some snippets below from our productions Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (2019) and Mittwoch Aus Licht (2012), winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Award for Opera & Music Theatre in 2019 and 2012 respectively. New Year (2024) and woman.life.song (2025) were nominated for the RPS Opera & Music Theatre award, and RhineGold was nominated for a Sky Arts Award 2022.

And hear from one of our volunteer performers Noemie