SWAP'ra (Supporting Women and Parents in Opera) | Co-Founder
SWAP’ra was established by five working artists in response to a collective frustration with the unconscious gender bias in the industry and to provide a supportive platform to effect positive change for women and parents in opera. We want to be a catalyst for change by encouraging the opera community to actively redress these issues.
The ultimate aim is to foster an environment in which a female CEO, Music Director, Artistic Director, Conductor, Composer or Librettist is no longer noteworthy.
Below is a selection of projects for which Sophie has played a key role from conception to delivery:
An inspiring residential course, providing intensive support, training and skills development for parents who had given birth within the last four years and who were facing barriers to returning to singing careers in the opera industry.
An ongoing research and performance project with the goal of rediscovering and celebrating women composers of the past. Working in association with HERA, SWAP'ra produced a programme of over eighty songs and arias which will be recorded by 50 students from the UK’s conservatoires and young artist programmes
Hosted by star of stage and screen Fiona Shaw, the SWAP'ra Gala was a celebration of the incredible wealth of female talent in the opera industry. A series of semi-staged scenes conducted, directed, performed and accompanied by some of the UK’s best loved artists, the gala was a spectacular event showcasing over 150 artists.
