Changing the face of opera

Under the artistic leadership of international opera director Graham Vick, Birmingham Opera Company 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 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 no fixed venue, our small team draws some of the world’s most exciting artists to Birmingham and trains hundreds of volunteer participants and emerging artists to create a large-scale performance in an extraordinary space.

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 

"BOC continues to be one of the glories of English cultural life, and I would rather miss any other company’s productions than its."

- Michael Tanner, The Spectator

"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 Award for Opera & Music Theatre in 2019 and 2012 respectively.