Since January 2003, Connaught Opera have arranged and performed around 200 concerts a year for older people in the Greater London Boroughs. We have achieved this by raising funds that enable us to offer concerts free at the point of delivery to venues for elders. Connaught Opera was formed as a not-for-profit, unincorporated association in January 2003. Our management committee comprises Maria Arakie (Chair), Glenn Wilson (Treasurer), Alan Steinfeld (Secretary) and Shabir Dawood (Trustee).

Left to right: Glenn Wilson, Pianist Julia Richter and Maria Arakie.

OUR WORK
Most of our concerts are performed by two singers, usually Maria Arakie (soprano) and Glenn Wilson (baritone), although other singers are occasionally added to order. They are accompanied by a top rate pianist, such as Carol Wells, Nicholas Bosworth, Gavin Mole, Julian Jacobson, Antony Gray and Sheila Thomas, according to availability. All are fully trained and experienced performers. We seek to provide a high quality entertainment for older people in Greater London, many of whom are frail and vulnerable or socially isolated due to circumstance or illness. The venues we visit include homes, hospitals, hospices, day care centres, sheltered housing and community-based clubs for elders.

Palace House, Beaulieu was the glamorous setting for a Connaught concert for older people
in Hampshire, funded by Hampshire CC. Lady Montagu (centre) personally hosted the event as part of
her project "Beaulieu Past Present and Future". The Hythe & District Rotary provided the transport.

DIVERSITY
Apart from our standard repertoire of Anglo-American musicals and operetta, in order to best serve the cultural diversity present in the older population of Greater London, we include medleys catering specifically to French, Italian, Spanish, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Hebrew, West Indian and, recently, Hindi groups. We seek to include everyone in our concerts by presenting a glamorous and lively performance - this can mean wearing bright reds for a partially sighted audience to enjoy (the last colour in the spectrum to be lost in the visually impaired), changing repertoire and costumes for repeat visits, and so on.

ABOVE: A bit of Bollywood in Ilford.

Celebrating Black History Month in Camden at the Afro-Caribbean Elders Day Centre.