PROJECTS

This Years Opera Tour: Tosca

This years Opera is TOSCA!

Flat Pack Music’s new production places Tosca inside a near-future authoritarian regime of surveillance, propaganda and control. It’s opera at its most cinematic: an artist turned dissident, a regime “it-girl” celebrity, and a security chief with power without limits.

Tosca is the state’s celebrated poster-girl — adored by the public, protected by the system, and expected to embody loyalty. Her lover, the artist Mario Cavaradossi, lives dangerously at the edges of the regime, using his work to preserve truth in a world built on fear. When Cavaradossi helps a hunted dissident, he draws the attention of Baron Scarpia, the ruthless Chief of Security. Scarpia sets a trap that forces Tosca into an impossible choice: submit and save Mario, or resist and lose everything. As events spiral from intimidation to betrayal, Tosca must decide who she is without the machine that made her — and what love is worth when the state controls the outcome.

We offer the production in three tour-ready musical formats — piano, string quintet & piano, and 14-piece ensemble — allowing venues to programme a major title at a scale that fits their stage, budget and audience.

Why present Flat Pack Music’s Tosca?

A title that sells: Puccini’s best-loved score, big moments, and clear storytelling.

A contemporary hook: a modern surveillance-state setting that feels urgent and marketable.

Built for touring reality: designed for small–mid venues with efficient get-in/out.

Flexible music offer: choose 14-piece for an orchestral feel, quintet & piano for added colour, or piano for maximum accessibility — without losing dramatic impact.

Audience development: optional talks and schools/community add-ons, with welcoming entry points for first-time opera-goers.

Three musical formats. One high-stakes thriller.

In Care

In Care is a 12-month programme delivering one session per month in each participating care home. Each session is co-delivered by a Music Therapist and a Professional Musician (from a roster including opera singers and instrumentalists).  Sessions combine a high-quality live concert with an embedded group music therapy wellbeing intervention, designed to create meaningful experiences on the day and lasting impact within the home.

Aims

  • Deliver accessible, engaging live music experiences for residents, families and staff.
  • Support wellbeing through structured, therapist-led group music participation.
  • Create sustained impact by building staff confidence and leaving practical resources in the home.
 
  • Skill and information share with the Activity Co-ordinator: practical approaches shared across the year to build confidence and capacity for music-making between visits and beyond the funded period.
  • Gifted instruments: each home receives an £800 instrument kit, gifted to the home, enabling ongoing music activity as part of everyday provision.

We believe that care-home residents should have access to high-quality live performance, and that music can play an important role in reducing isolation and enriching daily life.

What success looks like

  • Strong resident engagement supported by a predictable structure and shared closing song.

  • Activity Co-ordinators and staff report increased confidence delivering music activity.

  • Gifted instruments are actively used between visits.

  • Consistent quality across homes through therapist oversight.

Support needed

A full year of activity currently costs £5,000 per care home.
 

Sensory Opera

We are developing a sensory opera for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, based on Norman Snodgrass and the Pale Blue Dot.


This project combines story, music, adaptable design and therapeutic awareness to create an engaging and accessible operatic experience. The work is being developed in collaboration with artists and specialists so that the performance can respond sensitively to the needs of the children it is designed to reach.


The current Projects page already describes this as a sensory opera for children with SEND, developed with music therapist input and involving Frederic/Frederick Naftel, Caroline Clegg and Sue Bough.

Accessible Performance

We are committed to developing performance models that widen access to opera and live music.


This includes work designed for schools, care settings, D/deaf audiences, visually impaired audiences and others who may face barriers to engaging with traditional performance formats. Our vision is to create performances that are artistically rich, practically accessible and genuinely welcoming.

Young Artist Programme (Y.A.P)

Our Young Artist Programme supports singers and musicians who are still in training or at the beginning of their professional careers.


We want to help bridge the gap between study and employment by offering practical experience, artistic development and opportunities to work alongside professionals in a live performance environment.


Our aim is to create a programme that builds confidence, develops skill and helps emerging artists move forward with stronger experience and better support.