Ten years ago, three music lovers got together and had a wild idea: why not stage an opera, using St Paul’s Church in Clapham’s Old Town as the stage?

The trio – the-then vicar of St Paul’s Deborah Matthews, Australian opera singer and teacher Jennifer McGregor and Clapham-based soprano Patricia Ninian – decided to stage a performance of two short operas, Gianni Schicchi and Der Schauspieldirektor. The rest is history.

To celebrate this 10th anniversary, director Ashley Pearson staged a special gala concert featuring favourite arias and scenes from SPO’s back catalogue, a ‘greatest hits’ compilation from operas staged over the years.