The Homeless to Perform at Royal Opera House for London 2012 Festival

3000 performers, who have all experienced homelessness, will take over the Royal Opera House for a one night on Monday 2 July as part of the London 2012 Festival.

With One Voice is presented by Streetwise Opera, the award-winning charity which gives homeless and formerly homeless people opportunities to further their personal development through participation in music.

With One Voice is supported by Homeless Link and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation who wanted to ensure that, for the first time in Olympic history, homeless people were involved in London 2012. This ground-breaking performance will give a voice to those who are often side-lined and ignored during the Olympics Games.

Tickets for the event are sold out, but the performance will be streamed live from the Royal Opera House on 2 July at 6.30 pm on http://with1voice.org.uk/

There will also be an online ‘Action Zone’ for people to find out what they can do to help end homelessness.

Ruth Mackenzie, Director of the London 2012 Festival, said: "I am proud that the London2012 festival is celebrating the creative talent of homeless people, and collaborating with these great partners whose work with and for homeless people deserves all praise."

When in the 1990s an MP was quoted as saying that the homeless were the people you step over when you come out of the Opera House, the residents at the Passage Night Shelter in Westminster saw this as an opportunity to turn the tables. If the homeless were involved in a professional opera production themselves, it would help change the public’s perception of them and turn stigma into celebration. They ran a pilot project in 2000, which involved workshops at the Passage Night Shelter over a period of 12 weeks in the staging of the children’s opera, The Little Prince. This was performed at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio Theatre with children from St Peter’s Primary School, Eaton Square, staff from the Theatre Museum and a professional cast. The project saw many of the participants flourish in confidence and proved that there was an identified need for work of this kind. As a result Streetwise Opera was born.

Monday 2 July 2012 at 6.30pm
With One Voice
Royal Opera House
Covent Garden
London WC2

All the London 2012 Festival events can be found at www.london2012.com/festival. Follow us on twitter @London2012Fest http://twitter.com/london2012fest and find us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/London2012Festival.

The London 2012 Festival is the finale of the Cultural Olympiad. Since the Cultural Olympiad started in 2008 over 18 million people all over the UK have already participated in or attended over 9,000 performances and more than 8,000 workshops as part of Cultural Olympiad programmes inspired by London 2012 and funded by our principal funders and sponsors.

Principal Funders of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival are Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the Olympic Lottery Distributor. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival.

Supporters of the London 2012 Festival are BMW, Eurostar, Freshfields, King’s College London, Panasonic, Samsung, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales, BBC, British Council, Creative Scotland, DCAL, DCMS, Festivals Edinburgh, Mayor Of London, Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Visit Britain and Visit Scotland.

The Official London 2012 Join In app is a free mobile guide to help you plan, enjoy and share your Games experience. From the Olympic Torch Relay to the Olympics and Paralympics, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, plus all the cultural, city and community celebrations happening across the UK, the Official London 2012 Join In App is your essential companion. It is available now at app stores and at http://www.london2012.com/mobileapps/

The London 2012 Festival Press Office will provide a welcoming central London location for media, with a programme of regular briefings, interview opportunities, with space to work and free Wifi. The Press Office will be staffed with a specialist team of cultural press officers, who will act as a single point of contact for all London 2012 Festival-related media enquiries.

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