Victorian Opera was formed in 2004 following the closure of Wilmslow Opera, Cheshire (1970–2003), in continuing recognition of the excellence in regional musicianship and singing. The orchestra is assembled mainly from South Manchester musicians and RNCM students.
In 2011 a professional choir, the John Powell Singers, was recruited to provide chorus work for recordings. The policy has been to revive forgotten British operatic music from a variety of composers and to extend its interests to cantata, overtures and parlour ballads. Main recordings to date have been: The Maid of Artois (Balfe/Mackenzie, 2005); Songs and Arias (Balfe, 2007); Robin Hood (Macfarren/Corp, Naxos 8.660306-07, 2010); Lurline, (Wallace/Bonynge, Naxos 8.660293-94, 2011); British Opera Overtures/Bonynge (2012); On Shore and Sea & Kenilworth, (Sullivan/Bonynge, 2014) and Satanella (Balfe/Bonynge).