Opera a La Carte

What Opera a La Carte does

Opera A La Carte is a UK private performing company and consultancy founded in 1993 by Nicholas Heath and headquartered in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. It produces bespoke operatic performances for private events, corporate functions, country-house venues, and intimate spaces, scaling from corporate cabaret to full-scale chamber opera. The company has produced more than 50 productions over its 30-plus-year history, spanning a canonical Italian and Mozart repertoire including The Barber of Seville, Rigoletto, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi Fan Tutte, and The Magic Flute.

The business operates on a direct-to-client model: customers reach the founder by phone or email to commission a tailored performance, with no online booking, published pricing, or intermediary distribution. Its competitive position rests on the founder's 35 years of industry experience, relationships with performers at Covent Garden and English National Opera, and a review profile that has compared its productions favorably with major UK opera festivals such as Glyndebourne, Garsington, and Longborough. Marketing is limited to a basic website, Facebook, and Twitter presence.

The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors, no parent entity, and no subsidiaries. In its most recent public communication, Opera A La Carte announced that after three decades of touring country-house opera it intends to wind down that activity over the next 12 months and develop an opera industry consultancy drawing on the founder's accumulated expertise. The company remains operational in the interim, and the founder simultaneously serves as a retained consultant to a separate entity, Regents Opera, which he formed in 2012.

Name

Opera a La Carte

Legal name

Opera A La Carte

Website

https://operaalacarte.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Opera A La Carte is a UK private opera company and consultancy founded in 1993 that produces bespoke operatic performances for private events, country-house venues, and corporate functions, now pivoting toward industry consultancy after 30 years of touring productions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Chamber Opera Performance Services

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (7115)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Opera & Operetta (MPAGABAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Theater, Musicals & Performing Arts (THAJAFAB)

Keywords

• Chamber opera
• Bespoke opera productions
• Live performance services
• Opera consultancy
• Corporate entertainment

Headquarters

HQ city

Kingston Upon Thames

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Performance and Production Services: Fees charged for bespoke operatic performances ranging from corporate cabaret to full-scale opera productions. Revenue generated through direct booking of performances at private venues, country houses, and intimate spaces.
2. Consultancy Services: Opera industry consultancy services leveraging 35 years of experience. The company is developing its consultancy offering to complement its performance work.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Opera A La Carte is a performing company that provides bespoke operatic experiences ranging from corporate cabaret to full-scale opera productions performed in intimate venues, country houses, and private event spaces across the UK. The company also offers opera industry consultancy services drawing on 35 years of director experience, alongside master classes and education programmes.

Product overview

Opera A La Carte is a performing company and consultancy offering bespoke operatic experiences. The core offering consists of live opera productions performed in intimate spaces, ranging from corporate cabaret to full-scale opera performances. The company was founded in 1993 and has produced over 50 productions. The portfolio includes productions of classic operas such as The Barber of Seville, Rigoletto, La Boheme, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi Fan Tutte, and The Magic Flute. The company also provides consultancy services drawing on 35 years of industry experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Opera A La Carte Productions Bespoke operatic performances including full-scale operas produced in intimate spaces, suitable for corporate cabaret to large-scale productions. The company has produced over 50 productions spanning classic opera repertoire, performed for corporate clients, country house events, and private venue productions.
• The Barber of Seville Production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• Rigoletto Production of Verdi's Rigoletto, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• La Boheme Production of Puccini's La Boheme, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• Don Giovanni Production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• Madama Butterfly Production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• La Traviata Production of Verdi's La Traviata, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• Carmen Production of Bizet's Carmen, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• Le Nozze di Figaro Production of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• Cosi Fan Tutte Production of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• The Magic Flute Production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, an opera performance offering for hire to corporate and private clients.
• Opera Consultancy Services Opera industry consultancy services leveraging 35 years of experience, including master classes and education programmes within the UK and abroad. Being actively developed by General Director Nicholas Heath.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Garsington Opera: UK country-house chamber opera festival producing opera in an intimate setting in Buckinghamshire. Closely comparable to Opera A La Carte's positioning around bespoke, accessible opera in non-traditional venues.
• Grange Park Opera: Country-house opera company producing a summer season in Surrey with rotating repertoire. Comparable intimate-venue, premium-positioning chamber opera model serving similar private and corporate audiences in the South East.
• Longborough Festival Opera: Independent UK opera company producing a summer festival and touring-style chamber opera in a rural setting. Comparable intimate-scale, high-craft positioning that reviewers cite alongside Opera A La Carte productions.
• English Touring Opera: UK touring chamber opera company delivering scaled-down productions to venues across the country. Directly comparable on touring production model and flexible scaling, but operates at higher volume and institutional scale.
• Opera Holland Park: London-based summer chamber opera producing full-scale productions in a temporary auditorium. Comparable on repertoire selection, audience-development approach (avoiding "elitist" framing), and production scale.
• Buxton International Festival: Annual summer opera and arts festival in Derbyshire producing full-scale chamber opera. Comparable repertoire breadth and intimate-venue presentation in a non-London UK market.
• Diva Opera: Small UK touring chamber opera company producing scaled-down performances across the country. Comparable on tour-delivered, intimate-venue opera format with a flexible scale similar to Opera A La Carte.
• Regents Opera: Founder Nicholas Heath's separate chamber opera company founded in 2012, retained as a consultant there since 2020. Directly comparable in repertoire, in-the-round staging, and intimate-venue production style to Opera A La Carte.

Broad incumbents

• English National Opera (ENO): One of the UK's two national opera companies, based at the London Coliseum. The founder's stated relationships with rising stars and established talent at ENO position Opera A La Carte as a complementary boutique option to this much larger institutional provider.
• Glyndebourne: Premier UK country-house opera festival with a much larger operational scale and budget. Customer reviews explicitly compare Opera A La Carte productions to Glyndebourne, positioning the company as a more intimate alternative to this incumbent.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Operaalacarte
• Facebookfacebook.com/Operacarte

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Opera a La Carte