ORPHEUS & EURYDICE to Open English Touring Opera's Autumn Tour

English Touring Opera will present its Autumn 2026 tour, exploring timeless stories of love and grief and encompassing music from the 17th century to the present day. Featuring Gluck's Orpheus & Eurydice as never heard before in a brand-new orchestration and a double-bill of Elena Langer's Ariadne and Purcell's Dido & Aeneas, the tour once again opens in the company's home city of Sheffield and also includes a new sensory-friendly commission, Mimi and the Golden Touch, for SEND pupils and family audiences. The nation's leading touring opera company, ETO brings world-class theatre for high-street prices and impactful participatory projects to more towns and cities than any other UK opera company in its mission to make exceptional artistic experiences available to all.

The tour features a fresh take on Gluck's Orpheus & Eurydice, directed by acclaimed director and movement specialist Jenny Ogilvie, whose recent credits include ETO's 2023 production of Cinderella and movement direction for Into the Woods at the Bridge Theatre. It features a new orchestration by Leo Grant that also incorporates new electronic compositions and soundworlds to depict Orpheus's grief and descent into the underworld; whilst still recognisably Gluck's opera, this bold interpretation presents this iconic work as never heard before. Grant's recent compositions have been performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Aldeburgh, Amsterdam and New York, following earlier releases of electronic music on Goldie's Metalheadz label in the 2000s. His work frequently collages and converses with existing compositions, with pieces such as 'Six Preludes and Not Fugues' and 'Brahms, with additional accidentals'.

Singing the role of Orpheus in the Autumn is tenor William Morgan, who returns to ETO following his acclaimed performance in the company's 2025 production of The Rape of Lucretia ("William Morgan as the Male Chorus arrested the audience with his storytelling and dynamic tenor", Opera Now). Soprano Galina Averina sings Eurydice in her first role for ETO since 2018, while soprano Rosie Lomas also returns to ETO to sing the role of Amore with the cast completed by Isabelle Atkinson, Alexandra Meier, Guy Elliott and Jonathan Eyers. Iwan Davies, Head of Music at Buxton Festival, makes his ETO conducting debut. Sets and costumes are designed by Noemi Dabocz, who has designed for the Royal Ballet and Opera, Zurich Opera House and Oper Wuppertal.

The tour also includes a double bill of Elena Langer's 2002 opera Ariadne and Purcell's Dido & Aeneas, presenting a fascinating exploration of mythology and psychology from operas written over 300 years apart. Ariadne adapts a poem by Glynn Maxwell into a beautiful and devastating piece for soprano, off-stage countertenor and an on-stage quartet of oboe, violin, viola and cello. The title role is sung by Jessica Cale, whose previous credits for ETO include the roles of Monteverdi's Poppea and Giulietta in The Capulets and The Montagues, with the off-stage voice of the absent and faithless Theseus sung by countertenor Keiron Connor Valentine. Anna Morrissey, co-director of Last Days (Royal Ballet and Opera) and choreographer for productions at The National Theatre, Opera North and the Royal Shakespeare Company directs, with musical direction from Claudia Fuller.

Purcell's beloved opera Dido & Aeneas completes the double bill, recalling the tragedy of the Queen of Carthage in a masterpiece of Baroque music. Mezzo-soprano Samantha Price – recently acclaimed for her “multi-layered mezzo... captivating charisma” (The Arts Desk) in her performance as Romeo in the company's 2025 production of The Capulets and the Montagues - sings the role of Dido, while baritone Michael Lafferty makes his company debut in the role of Aeneas. Isabelle Atkinson plays Dido's companion Belinda, and Lydia Shariff sings the role of Sorceress. Rebecca Meltzer, co-founder of Waterperry Opera Festival, makes her ETO directorial debut and Alex Robinson leads the ETO orchestra from the harpsichord, performing on period instruments. The double bill is designed by Alex Berry, whose work includes arresting set and costume designs for Hansel & Gretel at the Royal Academy of Music and The Barber of Seville at Nevill Holt.

The Autumn 2026 season opens on Friday 9 October at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield and tours until Saturday 28 November, reaching audiences across the country in London, Buxton, Snape, Barnstaple, Malvern and Saffron Walden. The production of Orpheus & Eurydice will then extend into ETO's Spring 2027 tour, opening in March 2027, where the role of Orpheus will be sung by Joe Doody - further casting details for the Spring tour will be announced in due course.

ETO's mythical theme this Autumn continues with Mimi & the Golden Touch, a new sensory-friendly commission for SEND pupils and family audiences from writer Malaika Kegode (The Colour of Dinosaurs, Polka Theatre) and composer Vaha Salorian (Beauty and the 7 Beasts, The Opera Story). Co-created with students at Briarwood School in Bristol, Mimi & the Golden Touch updates the myth of King Midas to tell the story of a girl coming to terms with who she is and how to relate to the world. Directed by Lucy Bradley and designed by Sascha Gilmour, the production will tour to SEND schools, libraries and Garsington Opera.

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