The Greek National Opera’s new programme for the 2026/27 season, curated by its Artistic Director, Giorgos Koumendakis, brings to the Stavros Niarchos Hall important premieres, celebrated artists, new works, international collaborations, ambitious new opera and dance productions, mixed spectacles, musical performances, classical ballet, revivals of successful productions, and one opera for young audiences.
In the new 2026/27 programme, the Greek National Opera brings together renowned stage directors, set and costume designers, and choreographers from Greece and around the world, including William Kentridge, Stephen Langridge, Katie Davenport, Valentina Turcu, Alexandros Eflkidis, Eirini Vianelli, Sabine Theunissen, and Alan Hranitelj.
The productions will be led by internationally acclaimed conductors as well as by emerging Greek and foreign maestros, such as Vassilis Christopoulos, Konstantinos Terzakis, Dmitri Jurowski, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Jacques Lacombe, Sesto Quatrini, Lukas Karytinos, José Salazar, and others.
In the 2026/27 productions, alongside the GNO stars Dimitri Platanias, Tassis Christoyannis, Cellia Costea, Vassiliki Karayanni, Dionysios Sourbis, Tassos Apostolou, Petros Magoulas, Yanni Yannissis, and Yannis Christopoulos, we will have the pleasure of experiencing performances by world-acclaimed Greek and International Artists, including Sonya Yoncheva, Ermonela Jaho, Charles Castronovo, Brian Jagde, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, Riccardo Massi, Marcelo Puente, Anita Rachvelishvili, Christos Kechris, Mary-Ellen Nesi, Dmitry Golovnin, Hovhannes Ayvazyan, Matilde Wallevik, Danae Kontora, and Anna Agathonos, Chrysanthi Spitadi, among others.
This year’s season, alongside the GNO Ballet dancers, will also showcase internationally renowned performers on the Stavros Niarchos Hall stage, including Maia Makhateli, Elisabeth Tonev, Ksenia Ovsyanick, Carollina Bastos, Leticia Dias, Young Gyu Choi, and Alejandro Virelles.
The season’s official opening will take place on 30 October 2026 with a work that will be showcased for the first time at the Greek National Opera—in a grand international co-production with the Glyndebourne Festival and the New York Metropolitan Opera—, L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, directed by the prominent visual artist and director William Kentridge.
In December 2026, a Russian repertoire masterpiece, The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, will be presented in a new, ambitious production directed by internationally renowned British director Stephen Langridge.
March 2027 will mark the return of Igor Stravinsky’s 20th-century masterpiece The Rake’s Progress to the GNO repertoire after half a century, in a new, captivating staging by the distinguished Greek director Alexandros Efklidis.
In May and June 2027, the Greek National Opera will present, for the first time in its history, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, a monumental masterwork of Western music, as part of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death, in an ambitious mixed performance featuring the GNO’s Orchestra, Chorus, and Ballet.
In February and March 2027, the GNO Ballet will present a new choreography by Valentina Turcu, based on Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire—a co-production between the GNO and the Maribor Slovene National Theatre—, while in December 2026 and January 2027, it will showcase a revival of the classical production of Giselle, choreographed by Verónica Villar and Elena Iglesias.
With the revival of Verdi’s fascinating Otello in April and May 2027, the Greek National Opera will honour Robert Wilson, the prominent avant-garde artist who redefined opera’s stage language. The two black-and-white productions with cinematic aesthetics by Nikos S. Petropoulos will return to the GNO: Puccini’s Tosca in January and February 2027, and Verdi’s Rigoletto in July 2027. Traditional Japanese culture will once again be contrasted with American modernism in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, directed by Hugo de Ana, which will be revived at the Stavros Niarchos Hall in June and July 2027.
Lena Platonos’ musical fairy tale The Emperor’s Nightingale will return to the Stavros Niarchos Hall from November 2026 to January 2027, featuring nine performances for families and schools. Dimitra Galani will stamp her mark on a special musical performance titled Even If You Go Away…, paying tribute to a unique Greek lyricist, Marianina Kriezi, in a production featuring Savina Yannatou and Yannis Palamidas.
Following its international tours across Europe, Asia, and Africa, the GNO will present a grand concert at New York’s iconic Carnegie Hall in October, titled Nikos Kazantzakis: An Odyssey in Music, featuring works by Hadjidakis, Theodorakis, Skalkottas, Mitropoulos, and Koumendakis.
Sacred music will return to the GNO’s programme with the 4th Sacred Music Festival, which will take place during the first days of the 2027 Holy Week at churches, museums, and archaeological sites in Plaka and the centre of Athens.
Booking for tickets for the October to December 2026 trimester will open on 1 June 2026 at 12.00 via ticketservices.gr and at the GNO Box Office.
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