We’re delighted to announce that Jamal Edwards MBE will be co-hosting our #OperaPassion Day livestream hour from the London Coliseum between 5 and 6pm on 19 October 2017. Alongside ENO Harewood Artists Eleanor Dennis and David Webb, Jamal will explore the backstage of ENO ahead of the evening’s performance of our new production of Aida.

Jamal Edwards MBE started SB.TV – a broadcasting company that started as a YouTube music channel specialising in grime and rap music in 2006. It gave British grime artists such as Skepta, Chip, Wiley and Tinchy Stryder opportunities for videos of themselves performing to be posted online. SB.TV has also given a platform to artists such as Giggs, Dave, Ed Sheeran and Emeli Sande who all appeared on the channel in very early stages of their careers. SB.TV has, over the past decade, expanded into a production, broadcasting and editorial company that has changed the face of the British music scene and has grown to over 500 million views on the YouTube channel. Jamal Edwards’ work has been so influential in the UK music industry that he was awarded an MBE for services to music and was named one of Forbes 30 under 30 in European media.

Jamal brings his unparalleled knowledge of the UK digital music scene to a brand new genre; opera.

Join ENO backstage in the run up to the evening’s performance of Verdi’s grandest of operas, Aida. The hour of footage (5-6pm) will include live interviews and discussions with Aida’s cast and creative team as well as members of ENO’s own backstage and technical departments. Presenters will include Jamal Edwards MBE and ENO Harewood Artists Eleanor Dennis and David Webb who will take you on a journey around London’s largest theatre and ENO’s home, the London Coliseum. Meet the breadth of artistic talent at ENO and discover how they work together to put on an opera performance.

BBC Arts Digital is working with eight leading UK opera companies and major cultural institutions for an unprecedented day of live streaming – #OperaPassion Day. Partners include the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, English Touring Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne, Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera and Northern Ireland Opera as well as the V&A, BBC Radio 3, Tomorrow’s World and Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry, supported by the British Council.

The online live streams will transport audiences to every corner of the UK with insights from inside the company’s theatres and tour. Through interview, archive, innovative technology and exclusive performances, the companies will take you behind the scenes to explore and demystify opera in a celebration of its raw emotive power and engaging an ever-wider audience for opera. #OperaPassion Day is part of the wider BBC Opera Season which features new films, documentaries, performances and special projects across BBC Two, BBC Four, Radio 3 and BBC Arts Digital.