page_title: Richmond Opera
section_title: Beginnings
hierarchical_section_title: Richmond Opera / Beginnings
caption_attribution_description: English: This detail of the logo used by Isleworth Baroque opera group was taken from the 2008 programme for that group's performance of Purcell's 'The Indian Queen'
context_page_description: Richmond Opera is an opera company based in Richmond, London in the UK. Originally founded as Isleworth Baroque in 2004, Richmond Opera performs a fully-staged opera each year at the Normansfield Theatre in Teddington, along with concerts, semi-staged productions, and workshops.
context_section_description: Richmond Opera was founded as Isleworth Baroque by Helena Brown (1948-2012), then a harpsichordist with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.  In 2002 Brown gathered together singers and musicians, many from an adult education class run by Hounslow London Borough Council, to perform Handel's Acis and Galatea.  Staged in the conservatory of Syon House in Isleworth, the performers competed with the sounds of heavy rain (the roof leaked), low-flying aircraft, and the cries of peacocks in the surrounding grounds.  Nonetheless in 2003 they went on to stage Purcell's The Faerie Queen.  From these roots and with some initial funding from Hounslow London Borough Council, Isleworth Baroque was formed in 2004.  The society continued to perform regularly and give workshops on Baroque Opera, incorporating Baroque music and elements of Baroque dance.
caption: The original Isleworth Baroque logo
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