A 400-strong community choir of football fans and singers from across Greater Manchester will join forces with English National Opera (ENO) on Saturday 6 June at MediaCityUK’s We Invented the Weekend festival.
The special, one-off outdoor performance celebrates the unexpected connection between football and opera and is the finale event of Perfect Pitch, a large-scale community project co-created by ENO and Salford-based outdoor arts specialists Walk the Plank which began in January 2025.
The project has brought together local community choirs, football supporters and ENO artists, for a mass performance inspired by the World Cup, days before the 2026 tournament begins.
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‘Nessun Dorma’, the iconic Puccini aria famously associated with the 1990 World Cup, is at the heart of the performance, sung by international tenor Luis Gomes and the Chorus of English National Opera. Other well-known operatic pieces are sung by the 400-strong Perfect Pitch choir, ENO soprano Alison Langer and ENO baritone and Harewood Artist Dan D-Souza.
The Chorus of ENO will make their entrance via Salford’s waterfront, aboard the Princess Katherine, setting the stage for a playful operatic penalty shoot-out. The event will feature Greater Manchester-based women’s football teams, special guest appearances and a prize-giving ceremony complete with a giant golden trophy, confetti and visual effects.
Lauren Monaghan-Pisano, director of strategy and partnerships at English National Opera, said: “At English National Opera, we’re passionate about breaking down barriers to opera and creating work that resonates with people. Perfect Pitch brings the energy of the football terraces together with the power of opera to create something truly unique and rooted in the communities of Greater Manchester.”
Bev Ayre, senior producer at Walk the Plank, said: “Building on the success of last summer’s Manchester Day performance in partnership with ENO, this final chapter of Perfect Pitch promises to be an even bigger spectacle. We can’t wait to transform Salford’s waterfront into a vibrant and colourful celebration of opera and football.”
ENO is a dual-centre opera company, presenting a season at the iconic London Coliseum every year alongside dynamic work in Greater Manchester as part of its pioneering partnership with the city-region.
Beyond the stage and across the country, ENO runs a wide-ranging programme of learning, participation, creative health and community engagement that opens opera up to people of all ages and backgrounds.
