About Wild Arts
Founded in 2022, Wild Arts aim to make music fresh, enjoyable, and available to everyone, while spearheading positive environmental change.
The charity has three ingredients at its core: bringing world-class performers and performances to intimate settings across the UK; working with schools and young artists to foster future talent; and last but not least, doing all of this in a sustainable, one-planet living way.
Our long-term goal is to create a truly green opera house and performance space, set in a bio-diverse landscape, and constructed entirely from sustainable materials.
Our Programme
The centre of Wild Arts's Programme is the Summer Opera Tour, featuring a staged summer opera production (Cosi fan tutte in 2022, The Elixir of Love in 2023, and The Magic Flute in 2024) and an annual Opera Evening (a semi-staged selection of operatic and musical favourites woven into a 75-minute narrative).
Alongside this, we produce the Roman River Festival in coastal Essex in the Autumn, a semi-staged Messiah each Christmas, and various projects year-round. In 2025, this will include a St John Passion with James Gilchrist, and a CD recording of Mahler Das Lied von der Erde with Xavier Hetheringtion and Marta Fontanals-Simmons.
Our Outreach
There are three strands to our outreach work: the education programme for Primary Schools; the "Young Artists" programme for singers and players just starting out on their professional careers; and our behind-the-scenes apprenticeship scheme.
Everything in the world lives and grows, and our art is no different. We must feed and nurture it to survive. That means working with children, supporting young artists and creatives, and inspiring and giving opportunities to the people who will sustain the arts in the future.
A tree is only as strong as its roots.
One-planet living
We only have one planet, and one biosphere, which humanity is a part of.
At the moment we (mostly the rich Western world) are testing the limits of the biosphere's ability to mend and renew itself. In many areas, we've gone beyond what the planetary systems can cope with.
Our aim is to create world-class opera in a way that stays within planetary boundaries - i.e. within the planet's ability to deal with the pollution we create, and clean up after us. It's easy to say; much harder to do. We're developing our strategy through travel, production design, food, energy use, and the way we manage our office and team, as well as through who we choose as our partners.
What are planetary boundaries?
The Theatre Green Book has brought together theatre-makers and sustainability experts to create a common standard for making theatre sustainably.
We are a growing movement of people in arts and culture declaring a climate and ecological emergency. We pledge to tell truths, take action and seek justice. Arts and culture can lead in creating a regenerative future that protects the planet and sustains everyone, everywhere.
Support Us!
We believe that music can help bring people together and make them happier, and we believe that we can do that while working with the world around us, not in conflict with it. We are bringing top-quality opera to an incredible variety of people in a way that compliments our natural world, and we are building towards our environmental dream. We’d love you to help us continue our work.
Host Us!
Over the next year we are offering solo recitals, chamber performances (from Byrd to Bartok), grand passions, our trademark Opera Evening programmes, and a staged summer opera, all at a world-class standard. We would love to bring some of this music to you.
If you are interested in hosting a Wild Arts performance, please click the link below to learn more and get in touch.