Streetwise Opera and the Sage Gateshead have formed a new partnership which will see the
Streetwise Choir take up residency at the venue in September this year. The choir is the first in the UK to be comprised of people who have experienced homelessness and the aim of the initiative is for the two charities to provide opportunities for choir members; plans include work placements and performance opportunities.
Streetwise Opera, founded in 2006 in the North East of England, stages biennial productions and also runs weekly singing programmes in various homeless centres around England. The charity aims to produce work of ‘equal artistic and social merit’ and sessions provide the opportunity for participants to ‘find a dependable source of regular activity in lives that can be chaotic and challenging’.
The Sage, developed largely with lottery funding and housed in the impressive Norman Foster building on the south bank of the Tyne, offers an eclectic programme of learning and participation events alongside its performance schedule.
Commenting on the partnership, founder and CEO of Streetwise Opera Matt Peacock said: ‘This is a strong collaboration of two organisations who are specialists in providing the maximum opportunities and benefits for people in the community through music. We look forward to the opportunities the partnership will bring to our choir members.’
Katherine Zeserson, learning and participation director at The Sage, added: ‘We look forward to welcoming these singers into our ever-expanding family of active music-makers, and to exploring new creative possibilities together.’
The timing of the partnership comes at the start of a new three-year funding agreement between Streetwise Opera and the Northern Rock Foundation, a charity which aims to tackle disadvantage and improve quality of life in the North East and Cumbria.
The foundation helped Streetwise Operabegin its work in 2006 and has also previously supported The Sage with a donation to its endowment fund in 2001. ‘We like Streetwise because it works,’ commented Richard Walton, programme manager for the Northern Rock Foundation. ‘Streetwise offers people the opportunity to have fun, make friends and share the joy of singing together. For some people it can be life changing.’
THE CROW
