Youngsters at Pembroke’s Tanyard Youth Project are joining forces with Welsh National Opera (WNO) this evening (Sunday) to present a new piece of music based on a classic Mozart opera.

Alongside WNO artists, the Pembroke youngsters have created a story set to music based on the WNO’s Spring season theme, Spellbound, which they will then perform with professional opera singers.

Work on the project, named Co-Opera, started in November, with WNO artists, including composer Helen Woods and director Rhian Hutchings, helping the group develop a new version of Mozart’s much-loved opera, The Magic Flute.

Using The Magic Flute and their Pembrokeshire surroundings as an inspiration, the group, aged 13-18, created a story giving a new twist to the classic.

Today (Sunday, February 15) the group will travel to Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre to perform their piece in the theatre foyer before watching The Magic Flute with family and friends.

Project Manager at the Tanyard John Heffernan said: “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine young people from the Tanyard would write and perform an opera project, but they jumped at the opportunity.

“Co-Opera has been fantastic in terms of engagement, fun and developing creativity. Music and theatre activities are often popular, but we haven’t collaborated with an opera company before, it’s definitely opened our eyes to new possibilities.”

Composer Helen Woods said: “We have one member who is an excellent pianist and some boys who are into DJing, so we looked to incorporate all of that.”