eventsThe AJR was pleased to support, along with Arts Council England and a range of other partners, a unique project conceived by InterOpera, an organisation whose events aim to both introduce new audiences to opera and to raise awareness about important issues. On 18th April 2015 InterOpera organised an event attended by 600 people in Durham Cathedral, marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen and honouring the role played by the Durham Light Infantry in the liberation. The unique community event brought together international calibre soloists with local musicians and amateur choral singers. It featured readings of eye-witness accounts from both liberators and survivors of Belsen. For the first time in the cathedral’s 900-year history, a Rabbi chanted Kaddish, the Jewish memorial prayer. In addition to the important impact this event made in promoting awareness and memory in the Durham community, InterOpera also reports that it helped to professionalise its own operations moving forward, informing its approach to fundraising and its three-year strategic plan. ͞It’s a fantastic legacy for us as a small organisation, and will be a very important stepping stone for us as we look to expand in the future,͟ wrote Jill Cole, InterOpera’s Project Manager.