Tuesday, March 10th saw the big reveal at Howard Assembly Room, no, not the most recent names in the Epstein Files, the latest celebrity to be banned from the BBC or Sir Keir Starmer telling us that his dad was a toolmaker, but the runners and riders in the 2026/27 Opera North Season. To continue the metaphor there are a couple of course and distance winners, as well as entries which have put in good showings at other venues and the odd novice on its first time out.
Laura Canning, General Director of Opera North
To ramp up the tension to the max, we were welcomed by Laura Canning, General Director of Opera North who did a quick recap of the 2025/26 season saying that there had been over 10,000 first-time opera-goers in the various venues on the tours, with the majority of dates being either totally or almost sold out. The relaxed performances aimed at those with problems handling the normal format of theatrical performances were also extremely well supported, as were the audience members concerned, so there will be more coming.
So as not to turn over all her cards at once, the proceedings were presented like the Oscars, with the announcements punctuated by songs and interviews. Fortunately no one got slapped, but the wrong results, at least insofar as the running order was concerned, were announced on a couple of occasions.
David Cowan, Head of Music at Opera North, introduces Kamil Bien to sing Kuda, Kuda from Eugene Onegin.
There are seven productions in total, the first being Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky which opens on 9th October, 2026. It is based on a novel by Pushkin about love, regret and missed chances, a bit like Leeds United’s season. It is a new co-production between Opera North and Opera Queensland, conducted by Garry Walker the Music Director of the former and directed by Patrick Nolan, the Artistic Director of the latter.
18th October, 2026 sees the return of Rigoletto, by Giuseppe Verdi, again featuring opera superstar, Sir Willard White. It deals with power, love and revenge, containing one of the most famous arias in all of opera, ‘La donna è mobile’. This is definitely one for first timers, old timers and even old first timers.
2027’s first offering is Don Giovanni, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, so again, very accessible. It tells the story of the eponymous ‘hero’ who, to put it mildly, is a bit of a lad, reputed to have bedded 1,003 women in Spain alone. Mind you, that was when they still had Club 18-30 holidays in Benidorm. It opens on 5th February, 2027.
Hannah Mason prepares to sing This Journey from Dead Man Walking
19th February, 2027 sees a more modern piece, Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie and Terence McNally, based on the memoir by Sister Helen Prejean, dealing with double murderer Joseph De Rocher, who asks her for spiritual guidance whilst on Death Row. It is another co-production, this time between English National Opera and Finnish National Opera.
9th April, 2027 sees the return of another recent Opera North production, Orpheus, by Claudio Monteverdi and Leeds Legend, Jasdeep Singh Degun. Since its premier in 2022 it has won many awards, including Outstanding Achievement in Opera at the UK Theatre Awards and Best Stage Production in the Asian Media Awards. This is a new staging in collaboration with South Asian Arts so it will be interesting, as well as entertaining, to see the changes.
Isla Mundell-Perkins, Director of Artist Administration, interviewing Jasdeep Singh Degun, co-composer of Orpheus. Sadly the other co-composer, Claudio Monteverdi, could not be present, having died in 1643. I’m sure he would have loved it though.
The final full-scale work, and you can’t get much more full scale than Wagner, is Tristan und Isolde, which opens on 9th May, 2027. The composer said that he found it frightful and was worried that it would drive people mad or be banned. He certainly knew how to sell tickets. It is performed in a concert setting and premiers, not in Leeds, but at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. It arrives here after stops at Nottingham and Birmingham and will be one of the first events in Leeds Town Hall’s reopening season after its refurbishment. The exact date has yet to be announced, but at least they seem to have managed to narrow the reopening down to a year – hopefully 2027!
After two false starts, Opera North’s Music Director, Garry Walker added his, customarily humorous, contribution to the evening.
Just to put a cherry, or sprig of holly, on the top, 18th to 24th December, 2026 will see a musical retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at the beautiful Howard Assembly Room. Playwright, David Simpatico has used the author’s original words in conjunction with composer, Will Todd’s arrangements of traditional Victorian Christmas carols.
For full details of the 2026/27 Season, to see trailers, hear musical clips and set a reminder for booking, please go to. https://www.operanorth.co.uk/news/announcing-our-2026-27-season/?u Make sure you are quick as there are several very attractive packages available.
For other events at both Opera North and Howard Assembly Room it is. https://www.operanorth.co.uk/
Photographs by Stan Graham
Tyke It To The Limit 