Westminster Opera Co. is based in London and the Charente Maritime in South West France. Our raison d'être is to provide an exciting performance opportunity for emerging artists: advanced students - singers, orchestral players and production team members, or those newly established on the professional scene.

After two weeks of rehearsal in London, WOCo. transfers to the Château de Panloy in Port d'Envaux, just 40 minutes in-land from La Rochelle and near the historic town of Saintes. As artistes en résidence at the stunning Château, the performers/ production team work intensely for a week, building an opera and a special esprit de corps. This unique experience in an enchanting corner of France with views over the river Charente allows each young artist, under the direction of distinguished professionals, to extend their range of musical, acting, design & production skills in an intimate and supportive setting.

The climax of this work is an open-air opera on sequential nights in August in the atmospheric setting of the Château. Local residents and Summer visitors picnic in English style in the entracte of a fresh and accomplished opera production, bearing witness to the next generation of musical talent.

To find out more about the company and how it builds an opera watch the film to the right which documents the creation of WOCo's 2014 production of Don Giovanni.