Gareth Malone and Glyndebourne
Gareth Malone, who has worked with Glyndebourne Education since 2000, returned to work on Knight Crew as Chorus Master, helping to find new talent and reach teenagers who would never normally get the chance to appear in an opera. Gareth’s journey, from auditioning the young chorus, through to the final performances at Glyndebourne were filmed by the BBC and will from part of a three-part documentary - Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne – which was first broadcast on BBC2 on three consecutive Thursdays, beginning Thursday June 17th 2010.
In March this year Glyndebourne staged Knight Crew on our main stage. Knight Crew placed young people and the community centre stage in four performances of a new commission from Glyndebourne’s first composer-in-residence, Julian Philips.
Knight Crew, with a libretto by award-winning author Nicky Singer, was directed by John Fulljames and conducted by Nicholas Collon. The budget for this significant new commission was £400,000 all of which was raised from Arts Council England, individual support and trusts and foundations. The four performances were received by enthusiastic capacity audiences at Glyndebourne and the press also greeted this commission enthusiastically.
The Story
Knight Crew is a retelling of the King Arthur Legend. Told through the eyes of Knight Crew gang members Art, Quin, Mordec, Lance and Elaine, we see the story unfold in a modern inner-city estate.
After a gang feud claims its first life, violence escalates between the Knight Crew and a rival gang, The Saxons. With only the prophecies of the strange bag lady to guide him, Art tries to steer the Knight Crew away from the world they have become embroiled in. The group quickly becomes divided and, eventually, the new world Art is trying to create is tested from within as well as being threatened from the outside.
Creative and Production Team
Composer: Julian Philips
Librettist: Nicky Singer
Director: John Fulljames
Conductor: Nicholas Collon
Designer: Es Devlin
Lighting Designer: Bruno Poet
Movement Director: Ben Wright
Projection Designer: Finn Ross
Broadcasts on the BBC
Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne was broadcast on BBC2 on Thursday nights in June 2010. Episodes are now available on iPlayer
BBC Trailer
Photo: David Illman
Selected Press Quotes
‘This was a well-told tale that really packed a punch, and could not have hoped for a more gripping or committed performance. The legendary Glyndebourne production values are applied as assiduously to these youth operas as to anything in the festival season, and they really pay off.’
Classical Music magazine
‘I wouldn’t have missed it for anything: profoundly uplifting and encouraging.’
The Stage
‘One might think that the campaign to widen opera’s audience has been terminally hijacked by showbiz. But that would be to discount the heroic work done by opera-company education departments up and down the country, and above all their brand-leaders at Glyndebourne.’
The Independent
For more details about Knight Crew please visit:
The Knight Crew Mini site
The BBC website
Glyndebourne Education