Take a look at our enthusiastic cast members performing
"Women o' War" from The Cutlass Crew!

CUTLASS CREW Performances have been POSTPONED till further notice
We will be refunding tickets purchased to date

Music by Stuart Hancock
Libretto by Donald Sturrock

Directed by David Bass and Kathy Lindsay
Choreography by Rachel Zimmerman

Based on the historical figure, Lady Mary Killigrew, The Cutlass Crew
tells of the adventures of this English aristocrat-turned-pirate who, with her
servants-turned-crew, menaced the high seas in the time of Queen Elizabeth I.
As always, our performances will be inter-generational, and (mostly!) in English with side titles.

This work was commissioned by the W11 Opera for Young People and was first performed in December 2017.
Our production has some additional new music and scenes.

Check out these snippets to get a sense of the fun music in this show, ranging from Elizabethan style to sea shanty!
     Grace O'Malley, Pirate Queen - the Players tell the story of the first lady pirate (2:49)
     The Last Unicorn - Sir Digory Piper serenades Queen Elizabeth (3:26)
     Lady Mary's Defense - our heroine explains why she turned to a life of piracy (1:37)

The Cambridge Science Festival has been CANCELED till next year
2020 Vision: I See What You Did There will be performed next year as
2021 Vision: We Should Have Seen That Coming

NCFO Festival Chorus will
perform a program of songs about VISION AND THE SENSES
at the 2020 Cambridge Science Festival:

Directed by David Bass

For the fourteenth consecutive year, North Cambridge Family Opera will present a program of science songs at the Cambridge Science Festival (April 17-26, 2020). Come sing with us about the miracle of sight and the other sensory systems! How do vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch and the vestibular (balance) systems work? How do they develop? How can they go wrong? And how do they differ in other species? Sample topics from our program of about 20 songs include optical illusions, cataracts, and perfect pitch. Listen to this demo of Michael Ching's song about how other animals' vision works: What Do You See, Butterfly? (this was performed by our 2015 Science Festival Chorus).

2020 Vision will include songs by several contemporary composers, including David Haines, who has been featured prominently in many of our previous Science Festival Choruses, plus Michael Ching, Bruce Lazarus, Dan Kallman, and Lauren Mayer; and local composers Molly Ruggles, Tim Maurice, and Ruth Hertzman-Miller. We will also sing a medley composed by Cambridge Public School students under the direction of David Haines, as part of his CPS Songwriting Workshops. The performances will be accompanied by a slideshow of children’s artwork and projected lyrics.

Click here to listen to / watch our 2019 performance of One Whole Step for Man and to read about the composers and lyricists who wrote the songs.

Our Mission: We provide children and adults the experience of telling stories through song, by performing original, entirely-sung operas and oratorios, with lyrics and music accessible and appealing to audiences of all ages. Below is a 3-minute introduction to what makes NCFO unique! (For more detail, here's a 12-minute version.)