FRIENDS OF HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA

I want to be a FRIEND
In support of the good work of HGO I will give
£ …………. annually commencing on ....../......./........
Signed ..................................... Date..........................
Full Name...................................................................
Address.......................................................................
When you have completed and signed this form, please send it direct to your bank.
Date................................
....................................................................................
Signature .............................................
...............................
........................................................................................................................................................................................................
.....................
Address.................................................................................................................................................................................
Account number......................................Account name......................................................
code 30-99-86)
the sum of £................ every year commencing on ......./......../......... Debiting:
Please pay Hampstead Garden Opera Trust, account number 01504878 at Lloyds TSB bank, PO Box1000 BX1 1LT (sort
.................................................................................................................................. (branch address)
at...............................................................................................................................
To the Manager, .......................................Bank
Banker’s Order (This order cancels any existing order in favour of Hampstead Garden Opera Trust.)
Hampstead Garden Opera Trust
Hampstead Garden Opera Trust
Telephone No. ………………………........................
(for any future contact)
e-mail address…………………………………….....
Gift Aid Declaration
I declare that until further notice I wish Hampstead
Garden Opera Trust (regd. Charity no. 1092649) to
treat all donations I make hereafter as Gift Aid
Donations.
Signature ……………………………….
Date ……………….
I wish Gift Aid to be claimed on these donations. I confirm I
have paid or will pay an amount of income tax and/or capital
gains tax for each tax year (6 April to 5 April) that is at least
equal to the amount of tax that all the charities and Community
Amateur Sports Clubs to which I donate will reclaim on my gifts
for that tax year. I understand that other taxes such as VAT and
Council Tax do not qualify, and that a charity will currently
recover 25p of tax on every £1 that I have given.
For the good running of HGO, and for its sole use, the
information provided will be held on file unless, by writing to
the Friends Secretary, you exercise your right under the Data
Protection Act, to opt out from the data base.
Please return this form to the Friends Secretary,
Roger Sainsbury, 88 Dukes Avenue,
London N10 2QA.
FRIENDS
OF
HAMPSTEAD
GARDEN
OPERA
Question no. 2. Do you expect to come to future performances?
Question no. 3. Do you think that HGO performs a useful, even
important, social and artistic function?
Only you can answer questions 1 and 2. Let us help you to give
a positive answer to question 3.
The first purpose served by HGO is to bring live opera twice a
year at affordable prices to Highgate and the surrounding
areas of north London. The standard of singing, acting, playing
and production, coupled with the extraordinary intimacy of the
Gatehouse theatre is such that opera is truly brought to life –
sometimes to an extent beyond that experienced in major
opera houses. Surely this is a significant public benefit.
Another key purpose is to provide opportunities for young
singers to perform roles that, early in their careers, they
wouldn’t be given in the big opera companies. Many of our
singers are recent graduates from music college or students
approaching the end of their course. They are hungry for
experience in staged productions with professional orchestra
in a company like HGO, with a good reputation and high
standards, and four performances in which to develop their
role; and they value the boost that a major role with HGO can
give them on their way to a successful career.
If you are fully persuaded on question 3, we can move on to
question 4. What are you going to do to express your positive
conviction? Wouldn’t you like to become a Friend of HGO and
give us some financial support to enable us to continue in these
important objectives?
HGO Finances
We are determined to maintain a key element of our social
offering – affordable prices. At the prices we charge, it is
impossible even with high attendance figures to break even
with our productions. Every opera needs a subsidy. In the past
the generosity of a small number of financial supporters has
Will you become a Friend? Please. NOW!
HOW TO BECOME A FRIEND
You can join the Friends of HGO (as a single member or a
couple) at one of five levels.
Cherub
Seraph
Angel
Archangel
Hierarch
£25 or more per year
£50 or more per year
£100 or more per year
£200 or more per year
£500 or more per year
Of course your purpose in becoming a Friend is to help
HGO – but there are some small benefits which we shall
offer to Friends as circumstances allow, such as:
An e-mail priority booking period whereby you
can ensure that you get seats on your preferred
night even for our most popular operas.
E-mail newsletters with news of HGO singers and
their careers, reprints of reviews, a look forward
to the next opera.
Discussion over a glass of wine – either reviewing
a recent production or looking forward to a
coming one.
The opportunity to attend rehearsals.
The value of your support will be considerably enhanced
if we can recover tax through Gift Aid (and indeed you
may be able also to recover tax). The convenient way for
you and HGO to make your annual donation will be by
banker’s order. If you have now decided that you want to
become a Friend please turn to the form on the reverse of
this page and complete both parts; send the left hand part
to your bank and return the right hand part to the Friends
Secretary. Roger Sainsbury, 88 Dukes Avenue, London
N10 2QA. If you have any queries contact Roger at 020
8883 4927 or [email protected].
Emily Phillips
www.stageandportrait.com
Question no. 1. Have you enjoyed performances by HGO at the
Gatehouse?
allowed us to keep going. Our situation is becoming more and
more strained. The future of HGO will be in doubt unless we
can build a larger core of committed financial supporters –
Friends of HGO.
HGO is one of the finest small opera
companies I have worked with. Their
production teams are drawn from
the professional operatic world who,
having worked in prestigious opera
houses themselves, never fail to
create exciting, imaginative, and
often challenging productions for
Dove Mansfield Park - April 2013
their singers.
I’ve had the
opportunity to learn and perform whole roles with HGO, which has
provided a backbone to my training and boosted my own professional career. Since singing with the company, I have performed
several seasons with Opera Holland Park and was awarded a cover
role at Grange Park Opera this year. HGO’s reputation has grown
considerably over the last few years, attracting interest from opera
critics and casting agents from many of the UK’s top opera
companies. This provides invaluable exposure to the performers as
they make their own way in the competitive singing world. HGO’s
balance of family atmosphere and professionalism is like no other,
and I’ve made some lifelong friends. I can’t thank HGO enough for
their support in my professional development.
William Johnston Davies
HGO provides young singers with
invaluable opportunities at the
beginning of their careers. Joining an
HGO production means being
welcomed into a friendly, supportive
environment to work with talented
directors and conductors, and
explore the challenges of learning,
preparing and performing full roles.
HGO offers a fantastic chance to
develop as an opera performer: to
improve one’s stagecraft and musiMozart The Marriage of Figaro
cianship; to perform with an
November 2013
orchestra; to experience the pacing
of a full run of shows; to be seen in performance by critics and
potential future employers; and much more. After being part of two
HGO productions, I feel so much better prepared as I begin my
professional career. Well-reputed companies like HGO are a
wonderful asset to London’s cultural life. With your help, HGO will
be able to provide even better support for more young singers at
the start of their careers. It has helped me prepare for upcoming
roles such as; the title role in Handel's Belshazzar for Trinity Laban
Opera; Ruggiero Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola di
Alcina for Ursula's Arrow.
www.stageandportrait.com
BECOME A FRIEND OF HAMPSTEAD GARDEN OPERA
Photography by Laurent Compagnon

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