Trinity College of Music is fresh from it’s success of their performance of Francis Poulenc’s, Les Dialogues Des Carmélites. Based on the play by Georges Beranos, the opera explores the true story of the martyrdom of sixteen Carmelite nuns during the French revolution, when the regime dissolved all religious orders.

Under the experienced direction of Bill Bankes Jones, this thrilling and thought provoking piece focused on Blanche de la Force, a timid young woman living during the French revolution, who becomes a Carmelite nun to escape her greatest fear: death. When the revolution destroys her convent, Blanche runs away, but returns to join her sisters in confronting death with courage and grace. Throughout this riveting dramatic piece, the nuns surmount their individual fears and, in the end, accept the sacrifice they must make as the opera rises to its final scene of shattering poignancy. 

A graduate of the ITV Regional Theatre Young Directors' Scheme, Bill Bankes Jones has worked for nearly 20 years in both theatre and opera throughout the UK and in Germany, Japan, Korea, Austria and Sweden. Under his direction Trinity’s summer opera was one to remember!

Bill Bankes Jones says: "I'm delighted to be working on Les Dialogues des Carmélites with Trinity College of Music. It's a fascinating piece and a wonderful challenge to produce it in the evocative Blackheath Halls.”