Streetwise Opera's Opera Pioneers programme, a mentored practical introduction to working behind the scenes in the arts sector for people with lived experience of homelessness, is recruiting for its second cohort.
Participants will be paid just over £900 to take part in nine online sessions between October 2026 and May 2027, as well as a three-day residency at the Royal Opera House and a two-day work placement with an arts or heritage organisation local to them.
Pioneers will learn about creative producing, marketing and communications, fundraising, front of house, arts leadership and administration, and this year’s programme will also explore heritage through archives and collections, research, and interpreting and sharing stories with the public.
Participants will also receive oral history training from the British Library’s National Life Stories project, as part of a collaboration to co-create oral histories with 20 people with lived experience of homelessness.
As one Pioneers said at the end of the pilot programme:
“I love being a Pioneer. I feel so much knowledge flow into my brain, so much empowerment! Hearing about other people going through difficult moments at work and still just getting on was really empowering and enlightening. I’m learning about how to be adaptable and I’m feeling really positive about myself.”
You can find out more at streetwiseopera.org/vacancy/streetwise-opera-pioneers.
Application deadline is Wednesday 23 September.