Music / Opera
Composer creating community opera based on history of her road
Many of us have wondered who lived in our homes in days gone by. We might also have wondered who lived on the same street.
Some people begin researching this history but composer and multi-instrumentalist Emma Butterworth has taken her research in a unique direction.
Emma lives on Orchard Street – built in the 1720s and which has the distinction of being Bristol’s oldest cul-de-sac – and she is currently transforming the road’s fascinating past into an opera.
“I just found all these interesting characters, these incredible stories,” Emma told the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast.
“I’ve always wanted to write an opera as I grew up writing opera but just never got round to doing one.
“What’s your theme going to be and what’s your story is the big question, and I realised that I had the opportunity to write and create my own opera which is really situated in a place.
“The idea of a community opera made a lot of sense for this rather than necessarily something that is designed to be performed in the concert hall.”
Listen to Emma Butterworth on the latest episode of the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
When it was announced that A House Through Time was going to focus on a Bristol home, the houses along Orchard Street were among those that this reporter thought could be suitable for the programme.
And Emma has proved that conjecture right, with her trips to Bristol Archives and Central Library revealing some incredible stories that she promises to weave into her opera.
Emma has lived in Bristol for five years after moving from Bow in London, having grown up in Croydon. She shares her home in Orchard Street with her husband, Henry Fagg, an Alexander technique teacher, and their 21-month-old son, Corin.
Main photo: Martin Booth
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