School duo set for opera fame (From Thurrock Gazette)

School duo set for opera fame

8:10am Sunday 17th June 2012 in News

TWO girls are performing at the prestigious Royal Opera House in London after being discovered at a weekend workshop.

Nadia Musah and Autumn Blackburn were snapped up by ROH after attending a series of workshops at the Convent Garden venue with 28 fellow pupils at Shaw Primary School, in South Ockendon.

The workshops, held over six Saturdays, gave the eight to ten-year-olds the chance to experience professional tuition in drama, music and opera skills.

At the end of the sessions, the pupils were invited to show off what they had learnt, and when Nadia and Autumn, in Year 4 and 5 at the time, took to the stage, two little stars were born.

That was two years ago and now the girls are starring in the chorus of the opera La Boheme, Puccini’s tale of love and death.

Their thrilled peers packed into the the Royal Opera House recently to see the girls perform.

Shaw Primary’s Caron Barkins said: “It’s always a heart warming treat to have the opportunity to take children to a performance at the Opera House, but we were even move thrilled to see pupils from the school singing and performing in such a professional capacity.

“Our children in the audience spotted Nadia and Autumn instantly and were waving and bouncing up and down with excitement when they appeared on stage – the adults were no different!”

Nadia, who is now in her final year at Shaw, in Avon Green, is also preparing for her SAT exams.