Hampstead Garden Opera (HGO) was founded in 1990 by Dr Roy Budden as an evening class at the Hampstead Garden Institute, and became a charitable trust (registered charity no. 1092649) in 2002.
This multi-ethnic company strives to achieve professional standards within an amateur framework, and performs two fully staged operas in English each year.
Upstairs at The Gatehouse, Highgate Village, in the London Borough of Camden, has been HGO's home since March 2001. HGO is affiliated to NODA and Barnet Borough Arts Council.
The original intention was to concentrate on the major operas of Mozart, but the repertoire has since expanded to encompass works by Bizet, Donizetti, Flotow, Gounod, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, Offenbach, Puccini, Johann Strauss and Verdi. Since arriving at Upstairs at The Gatehouse, HGO has produced operas such as Mozart’s Idomeneo, Così fan tutte, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Clemency of Titus and The Magic Flute, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and The Tales of Hoffmann, Puccini’s Il Trittico and Madam Butterfly, Bizet’s Carmen, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and Donizetti's Elixir of Love
The orchestra for HGO since April 2004 has been The Dionysus Ensemble, formed by ‘cellist Leonie Adams in 2003, which specialises in reduced orchestration opera performance and chamber orchestral concerts. It is composed of young professional musicians and is based in London.
The President, since 2007, is Penelope MacKay, AGSM, HonARAM.
The current Trustees are:
The music director is Oliver-John Ruthven. Anne Macgeorge is the Secretary of the Committee.
HGO's April 2009 production was Carlisle Floyd's - Susannah
Reviews for Susannah included David Karlin for Bachtrack and Michael White for the Ham and High
HGO's November 2009 production was a double bill of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and Blow's Venus and Adonis
Reviews for this production included Edmund Gordon for The Buzz
HGO's April 2010 production was Mozart's The Clemency of Titus
Reviews for this production included David Karlin for Bachtrack
HGO's November 2010 production was Mozart's The Magic Flute, and marked the first time an English opera company used the acclaimed Stephen Fry translation, as seen in Kenneth Branagh's 2006 film version.
Reviews for this production included David Karlin for Bachtrack
HGO's April 2011 production was Handel's "Semele".
Reviews for this production included Framescourer
HGO's November 2011 production was Ralph Vaughan Williams' - Hugh the Drover.
Reviews for this production included David Chandler for Opera Today and Hilary Fisher for Bachtrack
HGO's next production will be Mozart's - Così fan tutte, opening at Upstairs at The Gatehouse in April 2012