An Evening with Streetwise Opera and Friends

A celebration of the human voice, raising funds for our work with people affected by homelessness.
About this Event

Join Streetwise Opera for a special fundraising concert bringing together powerful voices, exceptional artists and a new work created especially for this performance.

The programme features soprano Sophie Bevan MBE with pianist Sebastian Wybrew; mezzo soprano Jennifer Johnston, winner of the 2021 Royal Philharmonic Society Singer Award; 2024 Kathleen Ferrier Award winner Matthew McKinney with pianist Roelof Temmingh; Elizabeth Watts, one of Britain’s leading sopranos; and performers from Streetwise Opera’s London group.

Inspired by St John’s Waterloo’s anniversary theme, “Now I make a leaf of voices”, the concert celebrates the human voice as a source of music, connection and transformation.

Sophie Bevan and Sebastian Wybrew’s programme will move between opera and song, including music by Benjamin Britten, whose work speaks powerfully to the post-war creative spirit that also shaped the Festival of Britain and the rebuilding of St John’s Waterloo.

Matthew and Roelof will also join Streetwise Opera’s performers for the premiere of a new piece composed by Roelof for the company.

The full repertoire will be announced soon, with a programme spanning opera, song and new music.

St John’s Waterloo’s theme also echoes the church’s own history. Restored after wartime bomb damage, the building reopened in 1951 as the official church of the Festival of Britain, welcoming visiting choirs from across the country throughout the summer. Seventy-five years on, this concert looks again to the voice as a force for gathering, listening and imagining a different future.

Funds raised from the concert will support Streetwise Opera’s work with people who have experienced homelessness in London, Manchester and Nottingham, helping performers develop confidence, rebuild identity and form meaningful social connections through music and creativity.