The Grange Festival announces its 2026 season
New opera productions include La Bohème, Eugene Onegin and Giulio Cesare, with concert performances of La Clemenza di Tito
The concert programme includes Celebrating Sinatra and a genre-bending programme The Soul of Opera
Dance features the return of Ballet Black with a double bill including a UK premiere to celebrate their 25th year
The Grange Festival takes place from 2 June –12 July 2026 and is on sale to Members from 14 October; public booking opens on 10 February full details at thegrangefestival.co.uk
The Grange Festival has unveiled its highly anticipated 2026 season, promising an unforgettable line-up of opera, concerts, and dance from 2 June to 12 July. Following a record-breaking 2025, which saw a 62% increase in ticket sales and a remarkable 111% growth in its Under 36 Tickets programme, the Festival is set to continue its tradition of artistic excellence and innovation.
The 2026 season features seven programmes and 26 performances, including three new opera productions, three captivating concerts, a celebrated dance return and forty Festival debuts.
CEO of the Grange Festival, Tyler Stoops said ‘What excites me most about 2026 is the range of voices and visions we're bringing together. Following our record-breaking 2025, we've raised the bar even higher with over 40 Festival debuts, three new opera productions from outstanding directors, some of the world's best conductors, a genre-bending exploration of opera and soul, celebrations of Sinatra and Ballet Black—we needed an extra week to fit it all in! This season shows what's possible when you combine artistic ambition with genuine innovation—honouring tradition while fearlessly pushing forward.’
New Opera Productions
La Bohème (Puccini): a new production from director David Geselson making his Festival debut, conducted by Richard Farnes, with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. This heart-breaking masterpiece, set as revolution brews in 1830s Paris, explores themes of art, love, and friendship. An exceptional cast includes: Isabela Diaz (Mimì), Rhian Lois (Musetta), Luke Norvell (Rodolfo), Patrick Dow (Marcello).
Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky): directed by Max Webster (Macbeth starring David Tennant, Life of Pi) and conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya, featuring Vladislav Chizhov as Onegin - all three making their Festival debuts, and Ruzan Mantashyan as Tatyana with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. A cruel rejection ignites this devastating drama of unrequited love and bitter regret, unfolding amid the grand estates and glittering ballrooms of 19th-century Russia.
Giulio Cesare (Handel): a fresh vision by acclaimed director David Alden, making his Festival debut along with baroque specialist Christian Curnyn conducting the Early Opera Company. Countertenor Tim Mead, in the title role, leads a spectacular cast including Sarah Brady (Cleopatra), Hugh Cutting (Tolomeo) and Jess Dandy (Cornelia), all making their Festival debuts, in this celebrated opera of power, seduction, and betrayal set under the Egyptian sun.
Concerts
La Clemenza di Tito (Mozart): Conductor and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset and his period ensemble Les Talens Lyriques make their Festival debuts in concert performances of Mozart's late masterpiece, featuring Jeremy Ovenden as Tito. Virtuosic singing, refined period style, and dramatic intensity converge in this sublime opera, performed by renowned soloists and musicians.
Celebrating Sinatra: John Wilson returns to conduct the Sinfonia of London in a celebration of Frank Sinatra's artistry, featuring timeless classics in their original orchestrations and starring acclaimed swing vocalist Matt Ford.
The Soul of Opera: In another festival debut, conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser leads the Welsh National Opera Orchestra and special guest vocalists in an exploration of opera, soul, and gospel's shared DNA, inspired by Aretha Franklin's iconic performance of Nessun Dorma.
Dance
Ballet Black: Following a sold-out visit in 2025, Ballet Black returns to celebrate its 25th Anniversary with a program featuring the Olivier Award-winning Ingoma by Mthuthuzeli November and a new work by Alvin Ailey star, Hope Boykin.
Listings Information:
The Grange Festival 2026
2 June – 12 July
The Grange, Alresford SO24 9TZ
thegrangefestival.co.uk
Start Times: 5pm for Monday to Saturday performances, 4pm for Sunday performances.
La Bohème Puccini
2 June - Press Performance
11, 14, 20, 27 June, 1, 5 & 11 July
Libretto: Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on the novel Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger
Conductor: Richard Farnes
Director: David Geselson
Set Designer: Lisa Navarro
Costume Designer: Benjamin Moreau
Lighting Designer: Jérémie Papin
Video: Jérémie Scheidler
Chorus Master: William Vann
Cast:
Mimì: Isabela Diaz
Rodolfo: Luke Norvell
Musetta: Rhian Lois
Marcello: Patrick Dow
Schaunard: Dan D’Souza
Colline: Jamie Woollard
Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Chorus: The Grange Festival Chorus
Eugene Onegin Tchaikovsky
26 June - Press Performance
28 June, 4, 10 & 12 July
Libretto: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Konstantin Shilovsky, based on the novel Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
Conductor: Lidiya Yankovskaya
Director: Max Webster
Designer: Frankie Bradshaw
Lighting Designer: Jack Knowles
Chorus Master: William Vann
Cast:
Tatyana: Ruzan Mantashyan
Onegin: Vladislav Chizhov
Olga: Alice Chung
Lensky: Ryan Vaughan-Davies
Larina: Diana Montague
Filipyevna: Catherine Wyn-Rogers
Prince Gremin: Mark Kurmanbayev
Triquet: Toby Spence
Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Chorus: The Grange Festival Chorus
Giulio Cesare Handel
7 June - Press Performance
13, 19 & 25 June
Libretto: Nicola Francesco Haym, after an earlier libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussan
Conductor: Christian Curnyn
Director: David Alden
Designer: Jon Morrell
Choreographer: Tim Claydon
Lighting Designer: Matthew Richardson
Cast:
Giulio Cesare: Tim Mead
Cleopatra: Sarah Brady
Tolomeo: Hugh Cutting
Cornelia: Jess Dandy
Sesto: Zheng Jiang
Achilla: James Atkinson
Nireno: Owen Willetts
Orchestra: Early Opera Company
La Clemenza di Tito Mozart (concert performance)
9 & 10 June
Libretto: Caterino Mazzolà, after Pietro Metastasio
Conductor: Christophe Rousset
Cast:
Tito: Jeremy Ovenden
Vitellia: Aphrodite Patoulidou
Servilia: Anna El-Khashem
Sesto: Maite Beaumont
Annio: Ambroisine Bré
Publio: Adrien Fournaison
Orchestra: Les Talens Lyriques
Celebrating Sinatra
3, 5 & 6 June
Conductor: John Wilson
Orchestra: Sinfonia of London
Soloist: Matt Ford
The Soul of Opera
2, & 3 July
Conductor: Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser
Orchestra: Welsh National Opera Orchestra
Ballet Black
8 & 9 July
Ingoma: Choreographer Mthuthuzeli November
UK premiere title tbc: Choreographer: Hope Boykin
About The Grange Festival
The Grange Festival is one of the fastest-growing arts organisations in the UK, offering exceptional opera, dance, and concert performances on an unparalleled English country estate sixty miles southwest of London. Central to the Festival experience is the iconic Grade-I listed Neoclassical mansion house, one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in Europe and protected under the guardianship of English Heritage. Performances are held in a 622-seat RIBA award-winning theatre built inside a wing of the mansion, originally constructed as an orangery in 1825. Festival audiences can explore the house and grounds, and each performance features an extended dining interval with a range of options to choose from.
Since its founding in 2017, the Festival has developed a strong reputation for superb vocal artistry, high production values, and an incredibly friendly audience community. As a charity, The Grange Festival advances the arts by commissioning new productions and championing the work of a wide range of creatives and artistic companies, as well as helping new audiences discover opera, dance, jazz and other artforms. Throughout the year, the charity also delivers a wide portfolio of projects with schools and community partners, including partnerships with Hampshire Music Education Hub, University of Winchester, English Heritage and other charities.