Tête à Tête was founded in 1997 by Director Bill Bankes-Jones, Conductor Orlando Jopling and administrator Katie Price.It provides a unique opportunity for artists to explore new work hand-in-hand with audiences.

“DO NOT come if you love opera for its chandeliers and tiaras. This is gritty, hardcore, artist-at-work creativity where sparks will fly, and hundreds of performers, directors, composers, librettists, lighting designers, singers, instrumentalists, artists and inspired individuals come together to take genuine risks hand in hand with a discriminating, adventurous and forward-looking audience.”

PMF involvement:

2001/02 Six pack - London and on tour
2003/04 Family Matters – experiments in the creation of new opera.
2007 Blind Date, six mini operas of 15 minutes each - London and on tour
Blind Date

The Independent on Sunday

‘Blind Date marks Tête-à-Tête's happy return to the taster-menu format, dissecting the pleasures and sorrows and vices of a breast-obsessed aristocrat, two homicidal nannies, a fashion designer who may or may not be George Michael's secret love-child, an indiscreet parrot, a diva, two opera critics, and a generation of engineers, dairy-workers, saleswomen, soldiers and foremen from one Toronto suburb in six mini-operas... Tightly directed by Bill Bankes-Jones and smartly conducted by Tim Murray, it's a model of economy too.

Three singers share all of the roles. The scoring is tailored to Chroma's expert ensemble of clarinet, violin, horn, cello, flute and tenor trombone, while Tim Meacock's versatile set of 12 red cubes serves as office, apartment, bar, streetscape, and cramped flat.

In Anger, Julian Grant and Meredith Oakes expertly weave a witty series of quotes from Glass, Mozart, Puccini, Wagner, Janá?ek and more while two dysfunctional critics squabble over the vocal merits of a diva from their seats in the stalls, pens and notebooks in hand. Yes, I blushed.’

The Observer


‘Of the seven (yes, seven) operas I have seen in the past week, the most original and amusing was a 10-minute one-acter about a mouthy parrot breaking up a relationship. Monty Python's imperishable 'parrot sketch' now has a potentially immortal operatic rival... Blind Date is the result of a year's experimentation and development by that innovative group, Tête-à-Tête, which started with an operatic speed-dating evening between librettists and composers in search of new ideas. The 'parrot sketch' alone vindicates the imaginative leadership of the company's (and the show's) director, Bill Bankes-Jones.’
Six Pack

The Independent on Sunday

'Probably the finest purveyors of contemporary opera in this country, certainly the most hip... sexy, sassy and design-conscious as an episode of Sex and the City... the performances are as near to faultless as you can get in live music-making... Tête à Tête make a convincing argument that opera can be intelligent and accessible.'

The Spectator

'Tête à Tête is a small company, founded in 1997, for bringing `uplifting, surprising, daring and intimate opera productions of the highest quality to the widest possible audiences'. the idea is to `prove to you that an evening of contemporary opera can make a great night out at the theatre'.

Whether it will prepare you for much other contemporary or non-contemporary opera is a question, but meanwhile it's worth looking a bit closer at what Tête à Tête has achieved on this occasion.