LA BOHÈME and More Set for Waterperry Opera Festival 2026 Programme

Waterperry Opera Festival has unveiled its full programme for the 2026 Festival. The festival returns this summer from 7-16 August, under the new leadership of Artistic Director and CEO John Savournin. 

Priority Booking opens from 3rd March, with General Booking opening 31st March 2026.  At the heart of the season are two major opera productions, Puccini's La bohème and Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, both performed in English, set against the breathtaking backdrop of Waterperry's house and gardens, and showcasing emerging operatic talent. In the first ever production of La bohème at Waterperry, Faryl Smith makes her debut as Mimì, with Robert Forrest as Rodolfo, Ceferina Penny as Musetta and Jolyon Loy as Marcello.  WOF Music Director Bertie Baigent conducts, and Ruth Knight directs, having enjoyed great success with her production of Handel's Rodelinda at Garsington Opera last season.

Donizetti's sparkling comedy The Elixir of Love reunites the acclaimed creative team behind 2025's Don Giovanni - director John Wilkie and conductor Charlotte Politi.  The production will boast a new English libretto by David Eaton, and stars Daisy Brown as Adina, Matthew McKinney as Nemorino, Matthew Kellett as Dulcamara and James Geidt as Belcore.

Younger audiences and families will welcome a revival of the hugely popular 2023 family production, Peter Rabbit's Musical Adventures, a lively and accessible show introducing children to live classical music and storytelling in the enchanting setting of the amphitheatre, performed by festival favourite Oskar McCarthy.

This year also features a brand new concert series - Music in the Ballroom - offering audiences the chance to experience exceptional singers up close, in the charming ballroom of Waterperry House.  The series features an opening concert from the festival's Artistic Director and bass-baritone, John Savournin, a regular favourite at English National Opera, while the world class baritone Roderick Williams OBE will close the series with what promises to be a very special programme.  Two further recitals will be performed in collaboration with young artists from Opera Prelude.

Returning audience favourites include Last Night at the Opera, an exuberant celebration of operatic highlights, and Serenades, an atmospheric afternoon of music by Mozart and Dvořák in a beautiful outdoor setting.

In keeping with Waterperry's belief that opera should be open, accessible and welcoming, the 2026 programme will also include a range of free events, including a sing-along Come and Sing workshop, children's Craft Workshops, and the Young Artist Gala, celebrating the work of the festival's Young Artist cohort.

Another addition for 2026 is a new summer venue: the intimate, atmospheric church of Saxon origin, St Mary the Virgin, beside Waterperry House. The festival will present Living Light: Visions of an Abbess, a striking, space specific performance inspired by the music and writings of Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th-century abbess, composer, and polymath. Directed by WOF's own Rebecca Meltzer, and rooted in Hildegard's concept of the umbra viventis lucis - the reflection of the living Light - this immersive performance reflects Waterperry's growing commitment to reimagining how vocal performance can be experienced.