Kirkburton singer Jenny Stafford is performing one of the leading roles in Mozart’s The Magic Flute as part of Leeds-based professional touring company Young Opera Venture’s latest tour.

The production is being performed in English by a cast of 17 prize-winning young singers from across the country. Young Opera Venture, founded in 2012, aims to give recently-qualified singers professional experience and northern venues the opportunity to host excellent, accessible and affordable opera.

The Magic Flute is a well-loved opera combining comedy, romance, fantasy and philosophy with many tunes audiences instantly recognise; most notably the Queen of the Night’s deeply expressive aria which contains some of the highest notes in opera.

Jenny Stafford, 26, was brought up in Kirkburton near Huddersfield before going on to studying music at Kings College London. Now based in London, Jenny has toured South Africa in Handel’s Messiah and performed in two operas at London’s Cadogan Hall. In the Magic Flute, she’ll be playing the First lady, one of the Queen of the Night’s attendants.

‘I can’t wait to perform on stage in Yorkshire,’ she said. ‘It’s especially nice to be singing in the Lawrence Batley Theatre and Theatre Royal in Wakefield – they’re the venues I went to many times when I was growing up, but always in the audience.

‘ It’s very exciting to be on the other side this time.’

Young Opera Venture’s first tour last year was The Marriage of Figaro and the team is delighted to have been asked back to all the previous venues with a few new ones added for luck.

Jane Anthony, founder and artistic director, said: ‘We set out to take opera to new locations and to give young singers experience performing to larger audiences and it seems to be working. The Magic Flute is perfect for people new to opera, it’s a magical fairy tale of good and evil and the performance is a stunning visual spectacle. We’re sure that audiences in Yorkshire will enjoy the wonderful voices, enthusiasm and superb story.’

If you would like to hear Jenny in action, the tour stops off at Wakefield Theatre Royal on October 3rd (01924 211311; theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk) and Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre on October 22nd (01484 430528; thelbt.org).