CambridgeYouthOpera

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Do you think you can use your professional skills and expertise to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people interested in the music and the performing arts?

About Cambridge Youth Opera

Since 2011, Cambridge Youth Opera (CYO) has been using opera to open up the arts to children and young people in the East of England. Our core activities are all free of charge and open access. We welcome everybody, irrespective of background and previous experience. CYO has a strong track record and has become well-known for the exceptionally high quality of its work and the impact on the lives of the young people with whom it works. Projects are overseen by our Artistic Directors and delivered by arts and education professionals.

About the Board of Trustees

CYO is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and our Board of Trustees makes sure that CYO carries out the purposes for which it was set up, complies with its governing document, acts in its best interests, and manages its resources responsibly.

The Board of Trustees is CYO’s governing body and the Board has a key role in monitoring and supporting the management team, providing strategic direction, and delivering the framework of policies within which CYO operates.

As a Trustee you will make a difference to our local community and the lives of many children and young adults in East Anglia.

The CYO Board of Trustees currently consists of 5 individuals – including the Secretary, Treasurer and acting Chair.

Key roles, responsibilities, and opportunities for Trustees:

  • Involvement in decision-making
  • Attending regular Board and sub-committee meetings. Board meeting are held at least 4 times a year
  • Becoming a member of one or more sub-committees set up to review and support specific aspects of CYO’s operation
  • Raising the profile of CYO and supporting our development and fundraising activities
  • Attending events and performances
  • Your term of office for this voluntary role would be 3 years.

Vacancies

We are seeking new Board members including a new Chair. We are keen to hear from enthusiastic individuals who can think strategically. A background in arts and/ or event management, development and fundraising within the charitable sector, marketing, project management or finance / accounting would be particularly welcome.

If you would like to become a trustee of this very worthwhile charity, please email your details to trustees@cambridgeyouthopera.com

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Cambridge Youth Opera (CYO) is pleased to announce that British lyric soprano, Nadine Benjamin has joined the charity as its first patron.

Nadine made her Royal Opera House debut in 2020 as a soprano soloist, Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in August 2021 and the role of  Mimì (La bohème) with ENO in February 2022. She will return to ENO for the role of Mother in the UK Premiere of Blue. 

Previously Nadine was an ENO Harewood Artist and she has performed with Scottish Opera, Birmingham Opera Company, Opera Holland Park and English Touring Opera. Nadine made her debut at the BBC Proms in 2019 as the soprano soloist in Vaughan Williams’ ‘Serenade to Music’.  She has performed with Britain’s Chineke! Orchestra as well as Warwickshire SO, Norfolk SO, West London Sinfonia and The Waynflete Singers.  Nadine has given numerous private recitals, most notably at the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, and is known for her recitals at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden.

Nadine was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021 and is a Conscious Creative Artist who Sings Opera, Mentors Artists and Empowers Leaders. 

Speaking about becoming a Patron, Nadine Benjamin said: “I am delighted to be joining CYO at such an important time, as it looks forward to staging its first opera written by young people – The Little Black Cat.  I am really impressed by everything CYO has achieved and feel passionately about its overall mission to broaden the creative horizons of young people through opera. At a time when many schools are having to strip back classroom music lessons and when many young people are struggling with their mental health following the pandemic, open access to music, singing and collaborative performance is life-changing.”  

https://www.nadinebenjamin.com/

Photograph © Teresa Elwes