2026 FESTIVAL
The 2026 Season marks the beginning of a new chapter for Garsington, as we welcome our new Executive Director Ben Weston to our team. Ben will take forward Nicky Creed’s vision, bringing his leadership, kindness and creativity as we chart a new chapter in our history. This is what makes our company so very special to our artists, audiences and members. I know that Ben will look forward to meeting you at Wormsley next summer.
Our 2026 Festival celebrates music and drama from the 17th to the 21st century and will hopefully transport you away from the troubles of our world to an idyllic environment, with some of the greatest music ever written. We also welcome back some of the incredible artists who have shaped the success of Garsington Opera over the last decade.
We open the season with Verdi’s masterpiece of love and heartbreak, La traviata. Not only do we welcome back the director/designer duo of Louisa Muller and Christopher Oram, but we are also thrilled that Madison Leonard and Oleksiy Palchykov reunite as tragic lovers Violetta and Alfredo, after capturing our hearts in L’elisir
2026 SEASON
d’amore last summer. This production creates an opulent and luminous beauty, whilst Verdi’s radiant and passionate score will be brought to life by our wonderful cast and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Returning to the stage is our celebrated production of Der Rosenkavalier, alongside the Philharmonia Orchestra, who will realise Strauss’s incredible score of rich romanticism, Viennese waltzes, comedy and sublime tenderness. Last performed at Garsington in 2021, Bruno Ravella and Gary McCann’s seductive world has since travelled around the world, from Santa Fe Opera to Irish National Opera. This tale of young love and loss features some of the most breathtaking moments in opera, conducted by Finnegan Downie Dear and performed by a brilliant cast, chorus and children’s chorus selected from the Garsington Youth Company.
Il ritorno d’Ulisse signals our return to the astonishing world of Monteverdi and Greek mythology, following Orfeo in 2022, which was praised as one of Garsington’s finest-ever productions. Ulisse will be presented by the same creative team led by Director John Caird
LA TRAVIATA
Giuseppe Verdi
May 27 / 31
June 6/ 13 / 20 / 24 / 28
July 9 / 11 / 16 / 20 / 24
DER ROSENKAVALIER
Richard Strauss
May 28 / 30
June 5 / 14 / 16 / 19 / 25 / 27 / 29
IL RITORNO D’ULISSE
Claudio Monteverdi
June 12 / 18 / 21 / 23
July 4 / 17 / 19 / 25
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Gerald Barry
July 10 / 12 / 18 / 21 / 23
and conducted by Laurence Cummings, who will further develop the sublime aesthetic of Orfeo. Our Monteverdi exploration is only possible thanks to our partnership with The English Concert, the world-class period instrument orchestra.
The final opera this summer is a new production of Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest. As well as being one of the greatest operas of our time, it is also, perhaps unusually for contemporary music, uproariously hilarious. Highlights include daringly written, anarchic versions of “Auld Lang Syne” and “Ode to Joy”, as well as Lady Bracknell performed by a bass. Director Jack Furness and designer Francis O’Connor take inspiration from Oscar Wilde’s brilliant play for what promises to be an unforgettable evening.
There is so much to look forward to this summer and I can’t wait to welcome you to Wormsley. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing many of you over the coming months at our winter season of Garsington Studios concerts and community events, including our exciting recital series with extraordinary artists in partnership with the Wigmore Hall.
Douglas Boyd, Artistic Director
L’elisir d’amore, 2025
LA TRAVIATA
Giuseppe Verdi
One of opera’s most enduring masterpieces, with music of exquisite tenderness and lyricism, Verdi’s La traviata is a tragic story that is both powerful and deeply touching. Returning after their sparkling production of Platée (2024) and RPS Awardwinning The Turn of the Screw (2019/22) are director Louisa Muller and designer Christopher Oram. We also welcome back Madison Leonard and Oleksiy Palchycov as Violetta and Alfredo, whose partnership delighted us all in L’elisir d’amore last year. The Philharmonia Orchestra will perform under the baton of Douglas Boyd, and Tess Jackson will make her conducting debut with Garsington Opera for two performances.
In this heart-rending love story, the young and beautiful Violetta has the chance of true love, but forces beyond her control will tear them apart. This lavish new production, set in 1939 Paris, sees Violetta preparing herself with what little time she has left and wrestling with what freedom really means.
Co-production with Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and The Dallas Opera
Violetta Valéry Madison Leonard
Alfredo Germont Oleksiy Palchykov
Giorgio Germont Roland Wood
Gastone Sam Harris
Baron Douphol Chuma Sijeqa
Doctor Grenvil Henry Waddington
Conductor Douglas Boyd
Tess Jackson (24 June & 9 July)
Director Louisa Muller
Designer Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer Marcus Doshi
Movement Director Matthew Steffens
Philharmonia Orchestra
Garsington Opera Chorus
June 6 / 13 / 20 / 24 / 28
July 9 / 11 / 16 / 20 / 24
Start time: 6.10pm
Sung in Italian with English supertitles Insight Talk: Tuesday 14 April, Guildhall School of Music & Drama. See page 19.
DER ROSENKAVALIER
Richard Strauss
Der Rosenkavalier weaves opulent, bittersweet waltzes with lush late-Romantic orchestration, evoking both nostalgic elegance and the ache of time passing. Strauss’s co-creator, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, wrote of a world of ceremony and lavish ritual, in which the characters are helplessly entangled.
This is the much-anticipated return of Bruno Ravella and Gary McCann’s stylish and opulent 2021 production, which had to be performed to a limited audience after lockdown. Making their Garsington debuts are conductor Finnegan Downie Dear, Matilda Sterby, Andreas Bauer Kanabas and Niamh O’Sullivan, whose Octavian at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées received great acclaim. We are also delighted to welcome back Soraya Mafi as Sophie and Robert Murray as Valzacchi.
Set in Vienna, the story follows the Marschallin, her young lover Octavian, and romantic entanglements involving mistaken identity.
Blending farce, romance and poignant wisdom, this cherished opera is a tribute to the beauty and power of the female voice.
Co-production with Santa Fe Opera and Irish National Opera
The Marschallin Matilda Sterby
Baron Ochs Andreas Bauer Kanabas
Martin Winkler (25, 27 & 29 June)
Octavian Niamh O’Sullivan
Sophie von Faninal Soraya Mafi
Herr von Faninal Ben McAteer
Marianne Leitmetzerin
Gweneth Ann Rand
Valzacchi Robert Murray
Annina Siân Griffiths
An Italian tenor Egor Zhuravskii
A commissar of police Simon Wilding
Conductor Finnegan Downie Dear Director Bruno Ravella
Designer Gary McCann
Lighting Designer Malcolm Rippeth
Philharmonia Orchestra
Garsington Opera Chorus
Garsington Opera Children’s Chorus
Performances
May 28 / 30
June 5 / 14 / 16 / 19 / 25 / 27 / 29
Start time: 4.40pm
Sung in German with English supertitles Insight Talk: Tuesday 21 April, Garsington Studios. See page 19.
IL RITORNO D’ULISSE
Claudio Monteverdi
Following their acclaimed production of Orfeo in 2022, we welcome back the same creative team to perform the second of Monteverdi’s opera trilogy. John Caird will direct and Laurence Cummings will conduct The English Concert on the stage, with a stellar cast lead by Cecelia Hall and Ed Lyon.
In the last five fruitful years of his life, Monteverdi wrote this opera for the carnival season of 1640, a time for music, dance and masquerading. His musical style, so astonishingly bold and innovative when he wrote Orfeo more than thirty years earlier, has developed yet further, with arias and duets that give full life and humanity to his characters.
The dramatic tale of Ulisse (Odysseus) returning to Ithaca after the Trojan War is expressed through a rich blend of myth, emotion, and human struggle. At its centre is Penelope’s enduring failthfulness, with themes of loyalty, identity, and divine intervention described through Monteverdi’s intimate and deeply expressive score, marking a key transition between Renaissance and Baroque opera styles.
Penelope Cecelia Hall
Ulisse Ed Lyon
Telemaco Dafydd Jones
Ericlea Fiona Kimm
Eumete James Gilchrist
Iro Stuart Jackson
Melanto Rowan Pierce
Eurimaco Innocent Masuku
Minerva / Amore Claire Lees
Giunone / La Fortuna Jessica Cale
Pisandro / L’Humana fragilità
Alberto Miguélez Rouco
Giove / Anfinomo Benjamin Hulett
Nettuno / Antinoo James Creswell
Conductor Laurence Cummings
Director John Caird
Designer Robert Jones
Lighting Designer Paul Pyant
Choreographer Arielle Smith
The English Concert
Performances
June 12 / 18 / 21 / 23
July 4 / 17 / 19 / 25
Start time: 5.20pm
Sung in Italian with English supertitles Insight Talk: Thursday 7 May, Garsington Studios. See page 19.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Gerald Barry
Gerald Barry’s witty and highly original adaptation of this muchloved masterpiece will be conducted by Douglas Boyd and directed by Jack Furness, following his celebrated Garsington productions of The Queen of Spades and Rusalka. The visually striking, colourful and bombastic production features the return of Jennifer France, Henry Waddington and Seán Boylan, with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
If you have any preconceptions about an opera based on Oscar Wilde’s brilliant 1894 comedy of manners and misapprehensions, be prepared to abandon them. The composer Gerald Barry adores the play and has taken inspiration from Wilde’s statement “That we should treat all trivial things in life very seriously, and all serious things in life with a sincere and studied triviality”, turning the play inside out and upside down with reckless effrontery. As Barry has said, “The play’s bones are unshatterable. My version is an X-ray of it.” Any shattering that occurs during the course of the entertainment is more likely to be of plates than of dramatic structure.
John Worthing Zahid Siddiqui
Algernon Moncrieff Seán Boylan
Cecily Cardew Jennifer France
Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax Holly Brown
Miss Prism Susan Bickley
Lady Bracknell Henry Waddington
Conductor Douglas Boyd
Director Jack Furness
Set Designer Francis O’Connor
Costume Designer Hannah Wolfe
Movement Director Rebecca Meltzer
Philharmonia Orchestra
Performances
July 10 / 12 / 18 / 21 / 23
Start time: 6.45pm
Sung in English with English supertitles Insight Talk: Monday 27 April, Garsington Studios. See page 19.
Your Visit to Garsington
Dress Code
A visit to Garsington is a special occasion, and we hope you will see it as a chance to dress up. Black tie is traditional, but feel free to find your own expression of elegant evening wear. Warm layers are strongly advised. As the grass may be soft, stilettos are not recommended.
Getting Here
Garsington Opera, Wormsley, Stokenchurch, Buckinghamshire HP14 3YG
Under an hour from London by car and 25 minutes by rail to our nearest station, with transfers and taxis available. 30 minutes from Oxford by car.
Your
Arrival
Wormsley is open from 3.30pm, when you will be warmly welcomed upon arrival by our stewards. Complimentary Scout porters and chauffeured golf buggies are available to assist with carrying picnics from our free car park.
Champagne Terrace
Our bar is situated in front of the opera house and is a perfect meeting point. Overlooking the deer park, it serves Deutz Champagne and delicious pre-ordered canapés, and is open pre-performance and in the interval.
Tea & Coffee Kiosk
For a quick cuppa, drop in on our Kiosk at the foot of the auditorium steps. Open pre-performance and in the interval, it is the place to go for an informal offering of savoury bites and freshly baked cakes, or that essential coffee to round off your picnic.
Walled Garden
Open
Arrive in time to take a short journey on our vintage bus to Wormsley’s 18th century Walled Garden and enjoy the horticultural variety in its carefully curated quadrants.
Afternoon
Tea
Treat yourself to a full traditional afternoon tea in our restaurant overlooking the cricket ground, complete with freshly baked scones, sandwiches and cakes.
Pre-show Recitals
Each Saturday, enjoy a free 15-minute informal recital by our Alvarez Emerging Artists, performed in the Walled Garden or on the Champagne Lawn.
Garsington Opera Shop
Drop in on our charming tented shop to browse our specially selected bespoke collections including ceramics, jewellery, picnicware, pashminas, opera jackets and waistcoats. This is also where you’ll find our Box Office team.
Performance Begins
Bells will sound from 15 minutes before the performance, ushering you to your seats.
90-minute
Dinner Interval
Pre-book your three-course gourmet dining in the Boundary Room restaurant, or a catered picnic to enjoy in our tents. Self-catered picnics are also welcome, with tents and tables available to pre-book.
Your Departure
Performances are designed to finish around 10pm, as darkness falls, giving a magical end to your evening, with candles to light your way through the spectacular Chiltern landscape.
Pre-performance
We encourage you to arrive early to enjoy the full experience of a night out at the opera. Allow us to tempt you to afternoon tea, champagne and canapés, or to transport you to the two-acre Walled Garden, where you can meet one of Wormsley’s gardeners and explore the flowers, vegetables and tranquil spaces with champagne glass in hand.
The Long Interval
Dine in the Boundary Room Restaurant
Treat yourself to the complete fine-dining experience in our glass-fronted restaurant, with menus devised by award-winning chef Will Devlin and delivered by Payne & Gunter. Overlooking the timeless Wormsley Cricket Ground and the Chilterns beyond, the Boundary Room boasts one of the most stunning dining room views in Britain.
Order a Picnic
Let Payne & Gunter take the strain and choose from their range of pre-order picnics, offering a delicious selection of al fresco favourites,
Dining & Hospitality
served in tents beside the Cricket Ground.
If you would prefer to enjoy your picnic in the Deer Park, tents and tables can be reserved for a small additional charge.
Bring a Picnic
If bringing your own picnic, you’ll find plenty of free, unreserved seating to use. Choose from the many tables dotted around the Champagne Lawn and lakeside, or join the friendly atmosphere of our shared picnic tents.
Reserve a Tent or Table
If you would like to reserve a picnic space, bookings are offered on the Upper Terrace or in our shared tents, accommodating both catered and self-catered picnics. For larger parties, private tents seating either 8 or 12 are also available.
How to Book Your Dining
Dining can be booked when paying for your tickets, either online or through our Box Office. Instructions can be found in the step-by-step booking guide on page 16.
For a special celebration, or to entertain in style, choose one of Wormsley’s private venues, offering dining options tailored to your specifications:
The Island Pavilion sits amidst a beautiful lake and houses pieces from the Getty family’s sculpture collection. Suitable for parties of up to 28, the immaculate dining room offers fine dining within stunning surroundings.
Wormsley’s iconic, thatched Cricket Pavilion is adorned with matchday memorabilia and can host up to 10 guests for catered picnics, our fine dining menu or a bespoke offering.
Tucked away within our Opera Garden, The Granary is a cosy snug, bursting with character. A stone’s throw from the Opera Pavilion, this secluded picnic spot is a tranquil space for up to 12 people.
Dine in a Private Venue
For larger parties, the Chilterns Tent is a versatile space, set alongside the glorious Wormsley Cricket Ground. With room for of up to 60 guests, the tent can be adapted to a number of configurations, including more intimate settings.
To discuss hosting your evening in one of our private venues, please contact our Box Office when submitting your ticket request.
The Cricket Pavilion
The Granary
Island Pavilion
Booking Information
Booking Information
Priority booking is now open and members are invited to request tickets in line with the allocation deadlines below. Please provide as many alternative dates and seating areas as possible to assist the Box Office in processing your application efficiently.
Step-by-step booking
Members’ Priority Booking
1. Submit your ticket request including preferred productions, dates and seating areas. You will receive an email confirming receipt of your request.
Affiliate, Opus 40 Club & Public Booking
1. Once booking has opened, visit our website to select by seat for your chosen performance.
Ingrams Circle, Constellation and Patron deadline Tuesday 25 November 2025
Special Friend and Friend deadline Tuesday 13 January 2026
Members are invited to submit their priority booking request at garsingtonopera.org
Affiliate Members are invited to book online from 10am on Tuesday 3 March 2026
Opus 40 Club are invited to book online from 10am on Tuesday 17 March 2026
Public booking opens online from 10am on Tuesday 31 March 2026
Rush 35 tickets will be released from May onwards. Sign up online for a free membership.
2. Allocation will commence once your membership’s booking deadline has passed. Once allocated, you will receive confirmation of your seats to review. (Allocations are typically confirmed between January and February)
3. Complete your booking by adding any tents, tables & dining to your confirmed dates and making payment. Tents, tables & dining can also be booked at a later date.
4. Once paid, tickets are immediately available to view in your online account area.
2. If you’re ready to book tents, tables or dining this can be done at checkout, or at a later date.
3. Once paid, tickets are immediately available to view in your online account area.
Tickets can be booked online at garsingtonopera.org or via our Box Office on 01494 376037
If you have any questions about booking, please email boxoffice@garsingtonopera.org
Members not wishing to request tickets via our website are invited to telephone or email the Box Office. You will receive email confirmation of your tickets in due course, once allocation is completed.
Donations
All amounts shown include a suggested, but non-obligatory, donation of £80. By including this donation when you purchase your tickets you are making a real and significant difference in enabling us to deliver the high artistic quality of the productions you enjoy on our stage, our learning and participation programme in the local community, and the tickets that we subsidise for our younger audience members. Garsington Opera receives no public subsidy, so we are very grateful to the majority of our audience who include the suggested donation with their tickets. These donations (which are tax deductible) attract Gift Aid which further supports our work.
Included With Your Ticket
Whilst there are optional add-ons to enhance your visit, we do not charge booking fees or add on costs for car parking or buggy transfers.
Seating Area
Seating Plan & Tickets
For a more detailed seating plan, visit garsingtonopera.org/seating-plan
Middle Stalls, Rear Stalls and Boxes – reached by external stairs. There is no step-free access.
Front Stalls – seats in Row D have step-free access. Subsequent rows are reached by two steps per row, handholds are provided.
Orchestra Stalls – seating accessed by no more than five steps
Stage Platform – wheelchair spaces and step-free seating
Booking Information continued
Conditions of Sale
Contact Us
Website: garsingtonopera.org
Email: boxoffice@garsingtonopera.org
Phone: 01494 376037
Box Office Hours: 10am – 5pm, Mon – Fri
All ticket sales are final and tickets are not refundable unless an event is cancelled or rescheduled by Garsington Opera. Subject to availability, tickets may be exchanged to another performance, provided notice is given at least seven days prior to the original performance date. For sold out performances, Garsington Opera offers a resale service. All resale requests must be made in writing. Please e-mail the Box Office in the first instance with any resale enquiries on boxoffice@garsingtonopera.org. Full details of our resale service can be found at garsingtonopera.org/conditions-of-sale .
All tickets are sold subject to the right of the Management to make any alterations to the published operas, dates or casts which may be necessary owing to illness or other unavoidable causes.
Photography, filming and sound recording of any kind are strictly prohibited during performances. By entering the estate at Wormsley you agree to being filmed or photographed, which may be used for marketing or promotional purposes.
Accessibility
We welcome everyone to Garsington Opera and want to make your visit as comfortable as possible.
Booking – Suggested accessible seating can be found alongside our auditorium map on page 17.
A free companion ticket is available for those requiring essential support in order to attend. To make an access booking or to discuss requirements, please contact the Box Office. Parking – A limited number of parking spaces are reserved for the use of those with access requirements. These must be booked in advance through the Box Office.
Tents, tables and dining – The Boundary Room Restaurant has step-free access. We have a limited number of accessible picnic tables available upon request via the Box Office.
Data Protection
By giving Garsington Opera your information, you agree to your data being used in accordance with our privacy policy garsingtonopera.org/privacypolicy. You can change your contact preferences at any time in your online account, or by contacting the Box Office.
Productions On Demand & Insight Talks
OperaVision
Transport yourself to 1940s Italy with the beauty of L’elisir d’amore. Our partner OperaVision, a free-to-view streaming platform, will be releasing our production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, filmed live in July 2025, to celebrate World Opera Day.
Streaming from 6pm on 25 October 2025 for six months operavision.eu
Our 2025 production of Handel’s Rodelinda will be streamed on OperaVision in 2026.
Insight Talks
Ahead of your visit in the summer, discover more about this season’s operas with our series of Insight Talks, which combine historical context with musical excerpts performed by singers currently and formerly on our Alvarez Emerging Artists’ Programme.
Insight Talks cost £20 and start at 7pm. Guests are invited to join us for a glass of wine half an hour beforehand. The illustrated talks last approximately one hour.
Book online at garsingtonopera.org or via the Box Office.
La traviata
Speaker: Sophie Rashbrook
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Tuesday 14 April
Der Rosenkavalier
Speakers: Bruno Ravella & Fiona Maddocks
Garsington Studios
Tuesday 21 April
The Importance of Being Earnest
Speakers: Gerald Barry & Douglas Boyd
Garsington Studios
Monday 27 April
Il ritorno d’Ulisse
Speaker: Katy Hamilton
Garsington Studios
Thursday 7 May
L’elisir d’amore, 2025
Rodelinda, 2025
Over the coming year, our GO Participate programme continues with a year-round offering of workshops, performance opportunities and training in backstage roles.
Our Youth Company is thriving, with 80 young people aged 9 to 18. With the opening of the Studios we are able to extend their programme to include year-round rehearsals and coaching, laying the foundation for their summer production Gone Fishing on our main-stage on Wednesday 29 July.
Our Children’s Chorus is selected from our Youth Company and they will perform in our main-stage production of Der Rosenkavalier in the 2026 Festival. This follows their acclaimed appearances in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Queen of Spades.
GO Participate
Uprooted, Youth Opera, 2025
Our Adult Company now has more members than ever. They will be rehearsing Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial by Jury alongside professional soloists, with three performances in Garsington Studios in March.
We continue to take inspirational workshops into local primary and secondary schools and invite students to have the excitement of seeing their first opera on our stage. Each year, we welcome over 800 school children to our auditorium for a performance of one of our main-stage productions, performed by our Emerging Artists specially for a schools’ audience. Every child will have attended an in-school workshop, led by our dynamic team, who aim to demystify the wonderful world of opera and prepare them for the production they will be attending.
In addition, students from two local secondary schools will be linked digitally with young people at Alsama School in Beirut to devise a new piece together. This project fosters international dialogue and understanding, and gives young people a voice through working creatively and collaboratively.
Our free Discovery Workshops are designed to ‘lift the bonnet’ on opera, giving people the chance to gain new skills and discover the wealth of career opportunities that exist for those wanting to work behind the scenes in this extraordinary art form. No prior experience is needed, except a thirst to discover and explore, with hands-on assistance offered by some of the best in the business.
Everyone is invited to get involved! Find details on our website of all that we have to offer in our Studios Programme.
Garsington Studios Programme
This year sees the launch of our new programme of concerts and events at Garsington Studios, featuring world-class artists in association with Wigmore Hall, a performance by English Touring Opera for families with young children, our annual Award Winners’ Concert, and a host of free activities for local people to explore.
Hiring the Studios
To make an enquiry about hiring the Studios for meetings, rehearsals, events or filming, please contact studios@garsingtonopera.org
Emerging Artists’ Concert, 2025
Events at Garsington Studios
Sunday 16 November English Touring Opera: Little Terror (ages 3-7)
Saturday 22 November Discovery Workshop: Production Arts
Wednesday 10 December Louise Alder & Joseph Middleton
2026
Sunday 11 January Iestyn Davies & Oliver Wass
Tuesday 27 January Allan Clayton & Paul Lewis
Saturday 31 January Discovery Workshop: Theatre Design
Friday 27 February Imogen Cooper
Wednesday 4 March Award Winners’ Concert
Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 March
GO Participate Adult Company presents: Trial by Jury
Sunday 22 March Discovery Workshop: Dance in Opera
Sunday 17 May Discovery Workshop: Sing, Act, Perform
Saturday 13 June Discovery Workshop: Stage-a-Chorus
Find out more at garsingtonopera.org/ studios-programme
Garsington Studios
Theatre Design Discovery Workshop
Opera Pavilion
Garsington Opera, Wormsley Estate, Buckinghamshire HP14 3YG
Postal Address
Garsington Studios, Wallace Hill Farm, Stokenchurch HP14 3YF
Box Office: 01494 376037
boxoffice@garsingtonopera.org
garsingtonopera.org