Youngsters at Burbage and Pewsey Vale Schools got a taste of opera during a day of workshops.

About 80 pupils took part in Operajunior, an event organised by Wiltshire music charity Operaluna to introduce pupils to the sounds and stories from opera.

The workshops were run by guest opera company Garsington Opera and were based on Offenbach’s opera Vert Vert, a comedy set in a girls’ convent school.

Working with professional musicians and singers, the children performed parts of the opening act of the work, in which they had to mourn the death of their pet parrot, Vert Vert.

Laura Ingram Hill, of Operaluna, said: “The pupils involved in the two workshops produced wonderful performances and really impressed us with their creativity.”

“We hope that, through the Operajunior project, Operaluna has provided these young people with an enriching musical experience which they would otherwise have been unlikely to have.”

The Operajunior project is supported by Knight Frank.