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Opera Nova based in the Tees Valley in the North East of England performs opera music at a variety of venues throughout the region.

New for 2025... a Christmas concert!

Our production for 2026 will be Mozart’s sparkling comedy The Marriage of Figaro (sung in English), guided by our conductor Benjamin Noble and accompanist Lauren Gilbert.

Opera Nova: amateur opera group based in the Tees Valley

Rehearsals: every Tuesday 7.30pm – 9.30pm

Rehearsal venue: St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church Hall, Glenfield Road, Stockton, TS19 7PJ

Schemes, secrets, and sparkling music - Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is the wedding you won’t want to miss!

Past performances

Opera Nova present: On the Town

Opera Nova presented a new programme for 2025 featuring solos, ensembles and choruses from favourite operas including Faust, La Traviata, Magic Flute, Pirates of Penzance, Carmen and many more. Whether you are a seasoned opera fan or simply love music of all kinds, you are sure to enjoy an afternoon in the exhilarating world of opera.

Devised and conducted by our new Musical Director Benjamin Noble, with Opera Nova Accompanist Lauren Gilbert at the piano, the programme showcases the Opera Nova chorus and soloists.

Stokesley Methodist Church

Date: Tuesday 8 July 2025

Opera Nova Outreach Project 2025

Opera Day at Chilton Academy, Durham
Opera Day at Lingfield Education Trust, Darlington

Thanks to generous funding from Point North, Opera Nova continued the Outreach project, started in 2024. Through Opera Days at Chilton Academy, Durham and for the Lingfield Education Trust, Darlington, children and young people have been introduced to opera and the pleasures and benefits of singing and acting with all age groups have been shared. We have also given short performances in a wider range of venues, such as Darlington Library. If you are interested in hosting an Outreach event, please contact us (contact details below).

In 2024, Opera Nova in partnership with Great Aycliffe Town Council presented:

The Merry Widow by Franz Léhar

Opera Day at Woodham Burn Community Primary School

Members of Opera Nova worked with Year 5 pupils, aided by music students from Woodham Academy. All learnt to sing and act short scenes from the light-hearted operetta, The Merry Widow. The workshops followed by a performance on Saturday 29 June with both Woodham Burn and Woodham Academy pupils performing alongside Opera Nova.

The Merry Widow by Franz Léhar

Holy Trinity with St Mark Church, Upsall Grove, Stockton-on-Tees Tues 15 Oct 2024 7:30 pm

Stokesley Methodist Church, High Street, Stokesley Tues 9 Jul 2024 7:30 pm

The concert series ‘Partytime!’ was presented by Opera Nova in Winter/Spring 2024 – a selection of fun choruses and ensembles from opera and operetta, including songs from The Merry Widow which we were preparing to present as our semi-staged production for 2024.

For the spring to autumn 2023 season, Opera Nova presented a programme of Verdi opera with semi-staged extracts from La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto, Aida, Falstaff and Otello, with Artistic Director Penny Randall-Davis, Musical Director Marco Romano and accompanist Lauren Gilbert.

audio file: opera-nova-excerpt-from-la-traviata-act-2-finale

photo by Alan Clements: Verdi: Love and Loss 2023

photo gallery: schools performance of Trial by Jury in Middlesbrough Town Hall Courtroom

photo by Alan Clements: Trial by Jury 2019

About Opera Nova

Opera Nova is an amateur company that promotes and stages opera. We aim to provide professional quality entertainment accessible to a wide audience and to develop the talents of local singers of all ages.

Rehearsals are held on Tuesday evenings at
Holy Trinity with Saint Mark Church, Stockton-on-Tees

website comments: Clive webmaster@operanova.org.uk

Registered Charity Number: 1138924 Company Number: 05720992

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Follow @OperaNovaTees

Next Events

	Date	Series
Stokesley Methodist Church, High Street, Stokesley, TS9 5AD	Tuesday, 8 July 2025 - 7:30pm	On the Town