A politician had said that, ‘The homeless are the people you step over coming out of the Opera House’, so settled Streetwise Opera. Streetwise Opera is an award-winning charity that uses music as a tool to help 500 homeless people per year move forward in their lives. Weekly workshops at 11 homeless centres throughout England and Wales allow homeless people to become involved in opera productions, many of which have garnered highly enthusiastic reviews.

Streetwise Opera was acknowledged at the 2009 Gramophone Awards, in association withThe Times, for its role in furthering and developing Music in the Community.

The soprano Elizabeth Watts has just released a digital single of ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’ from Handel’s  Rinaldo to raise money for Streetwise Opera. Joined by the Sacconi Quartet and music director Duncan Ward, as well as a chorus from Streetwise performers in Nottingham and Manchester, Liz Watts, a patron of Streetwise Opera, will be donating all proceeds from the sale of the single to fund Streetwise Opera’s Workshop Programme.

To download the single of ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’ go to iTunes – it costs just 79p.

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