Nigel Bates was Principal Percussionist of the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden. In this morning’s talk, he takes a look at the history, architecture and life backstage at London’s Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the tribulations and triumphs of working with the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet companies. Simply putting on the performances is not enough – there has to be encouragement for the audience to spend quite large amounts of money to attend a performance.

He will discuss the way artistic inspirations, the people involved and the unique building all function together to create world-class opera and ballet in a unique environment. Nigel’s talk will be interspersed by live performances from our young artists.