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Inspired by the Black Sound exhibition at Black Cultural Archives, Pegasus Opera can work with up to 120 pupils to create four operas based on four different genres of Black British music. We explore reggae, hip-hop, gospel and opera. All the students come together for a performance extravaganza.

Pegasus Opera Company’s Music Mentoring Programme works with 45 11-15 year old each year who compose, create and perform their own operas based on themes that matter to them. We work with young people who have been identified as disengaging with education and potentially at risk of offending.

This programme provides enrichment opportunities to develop confidence, resilience, collaborative and employability skills. In each cohort there is a youth committee who are giving a budget to aid them in creating these operas whilst all participants work towards an accredited Arts Award qualification awarded through Trinity College. This programme is generously funded by the Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund.

Working with Year 6 Primary School pupils and Year 7 Secondary School pupils, we used the opera form to explore themes around the transition from Primary to Secondary school. The young people created performances about their concerns, their hopes and their fears. Both schools came together to share their operas and then there was an opportunity for the Primary students to ask the Secondary students what ‘big school’ is really like!

The Black History Heroes Project is a year-long activity for primary and secondary schools targeting up to 300 young people, predominantly (but not exclusively) of African and Asian heritage, who are socially and/or economically disadvantaged. Each term culminated in an Opera written by pupils inspired by heroes from African and Asian heritage (from Equiano to Mandela) and relate those stories to current issues that are important to them i.e. overcoming adversity to succeed, friendship and family. This programme was designed to inspire young people with positive role models from Black History to enable them to make the right choices despite the life challenges they may face.