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Opera Holland Park has recruited schoolchildren to sing in one of its biggest productions of the summer.
Six boys, aged 11 to 13, from the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in Kensington will appear in Puccini's La Bohème.
The state school has supplied children to perform at the Royal Opera House but this is the first time they have joined their local company - the only one in the UK run by a council.
Scott Price, the school's director of music, said: "They do an awful lot of music and we give them a lot of opportunities. They respond very well to it." The six are Dominic Doutney, Daniel Harraghy, Jack Harnett, Thomas Lacy, Harry Robertson and Daniel Tugh.
This season marks 20 years since Opera Holland Park general manager Michael Volpe joined Kensington and Chelsea council to run its arts services. It was his idea for the council to establish its own company in 1996.
The season opens on 2 June and runs until 15 August with six productions including Verdi's Un Ballo In Maschera and Kát'a Kabanová by Leoš Janácek.
■Opera Holland Park is offering Standard readers tickets for the first night of Stephen Barlow's Hansel Und Gretel. Call the box office on 0845 230 9769 and quote "Standard promotion". Seats are £10, subject to availability.
