Opera Prelude: The Craft of the Opera Composer

Jonathan Darnborough, (composer, pianist and Oxford academic) with Opera Prelude’s young artists.

Great opera composers have one thing in common - they combine musical genius with a strong dramatic gift. In this illustrated talk Jonathan Darnborough explores the techniques, common to composers of all eras, by which they mould their musical ideas to reflect and intensify the emotions of their characters.
Jonathan Darnborough is Director of Studies in Music at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. As composer and pianist, he has performed throughout Britain as well as in the USA, France, Italy and Indonesia. He is the author of Oxford University’s first two online music courses, one on The Marriage of Figaro and an introduction to Musical Analysis. He is currently working on an opera based on Euripides’s Hecuba.

Opera Prelude is a small charity supporting young professional opera singers who give lecture recitals in London. These friendly and inclusive events will introduce you to the international opera singers of tomorrow by way of recitals, concerts and masterclasses.