Read on to learn about major contemporary works, new work development in opera, ENO signature classics, interdisciplinary experimentations, and how ENO will be creating operatic experiences by, with and for communities, and developing the opera-makers of today and tomorrow.

Performances

ENO are delighted to confirm the following productions across Greater Manchester from summer 2025.

June 2025 – ENO and The Hallé
A special performance will be presented for the Manchester Classical festival at The Bridgewater Hall in June 2025, in a collaboration between the Chorus of ENO and The Hallé.

October 2025 – Albert Herring
A newly staged version of Benjamin Britten’s classic comic ensemble opera Albert Herring at Lowry, performed with the Orchestra of ENO.

Albert Herring explores the themes of losing innocence and coming of age. In a small English town, Lady Billows and her committee are trying to find a suitable May Queen for the annual feast. With none of the young women suitable, the committee crowns Albert Herring, a shy, young greengrocer’s son, to be May King instead. The celebrations lead to an eventful evening for Albert.

February 2026 – Così fan tutte
A newly staged concert version of Mozart’s Così fan tutte with the Chorus and Orchestra of ENO, will be presented at The Bridgewater Hall.

Mozart’s comic opera centres around two young men, who have long bragged about their own happy relationships with their fiancées. Their friend, Don Alfonso, wants to challenge this and forms a plan to prove them wrong. Through a combination of mistaken identities and romantic entanglements, Così fan tutte questions human emotions and exposes how vulnerable love can be.

May 2026 – Angel’s Bone
The UK premiere of Angel’s Bone, the Pulitzer prize-winning contemporary opera by Chinese American composer Du Yun and librettist Royce Vavrek.

This dark fable explores modern-day slavery and human trafficking draws inspiration from a range of musical genres, from classical to cabaret and punk. Produced by ENO in collaboration with Factory International, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and presented at Aviva Studios.

April 2027 – Einstein on the Beach
A new experiential production presented with Factory International, Improbable and Park Avenue Armory New York of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s opera Einstein on the Beach, following the international success of Satyagraha and Akhnaten, directed by Improbable’s Phelim McDermott and premiering at Aviva Studios.

Ticket information for ENO performances in Greater Manchester will be announced in due course. Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear.

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Talent Pipeline

ENO has a proud history of developing the opera-makers of the future, from our Harewood Artists programme to the ENO Mackerras Fellowship. We look forward to continuing this work across Greater Manchester.

Autumn 2024 – ‘Finish This…’

Finish This… is ENO’s free music-making programme for primary, secondary and SEND schools, delivered this academic year in 30 schools across Greater Manchester, with strategic support from Music Services across the city-region.

Spring 2025 – Factory Academy

ENO and Factory International are excited to be working together to nurture the opera-makers of the future.

ENO is teaming up with Factory International, the organisation behind the city’s landmark new cultural space, Aviva Studios and Manchester International Festival (MIF) to offer vocational training opportunities in opera for people living in Greater Manchester from backgrounds underrepresented in the arts. Through Factory International’s Factory Academy training programme, participants will develop skills in technical, stage management and producing roles while working as part of the creative and technical teams making Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach, co-produced with Factory International and Park Avenue Armory New York, coming to Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, in 2027.

Autumn 2025 – Greater Manchester Youth Opera Company

ENO are delighted to collaborate with Greater Manchester and Blackburn with Darwen Music Hub to develop a youth opera company for young people living in Greater Manchester, from backgrounds underrepresented and underserved in the arts.

Young people will work with each other and with professional practitioners to explore the possibilities of making and performing opera. The programme will build on the success of existing youth music ensemble models, and will be co-designed with young people, Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and other Music Hub partners, and organisations working in opera and music theatre locally. Together, we look forward to investing in creating the opera-makers of the future.

Spring 2026 – Creative Incubator Programme

The Royal Northern College of Music and ENO will collaborate on a partnership which will create space for innovation in opera-making. Applications for the Creative Incubator Programme will open in 2026 to artists living in or with a connection to Manchester and Greater Manchester, facilitating access to workshop space, mentoring, financial support, and performance platforms to develop new operatic work.
The RNCM and ENO are steeped in the tradition of opera and are committed to new ideas, approaches, and ways of engaging with the richly diverse lives and perspectives of the people who live in the city today, to create operatic work that defines a new future for the artform.

Keep up to date on all these projects through our Greater Manchester newsletter.

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Participation

Summer 2025 – PERFECT PITCH

ENO and Walk the Plank are delighted to announce PERFECT PITCH – a winning combination of football, voice and outdoor performance. Co-curated with amateur football teams and songful communities across Greater Manchester between 2025 and 2026, PERFECT PITCH will be a joyful, playful celebration for football fans which brings people into contact with opera, and ENO, in unexpected ways.

We’ll explore the impact that mass singing has on team performance and spectator experience, putting the discipline of artistic practice and the passion of opera in a line up with footballing tradition and creativity – on and off the pitch.

Summer 2025 – Tuning into Opera

The University of Manchester and ENO will work together on Tuning into Opera. We’ll invite the people of Greater Manchester to take part in a series of conversations, exploring the opportunities for the artform and discussing what it means to have an opera company based in the city-region. ENO and University of Manchester will bring a range of perspectives together, including artists, local communities, researchers and the wider sector to examine how the artform can and must continue to grow. A jointly funded role will be recruited, enabling on-the-ground research with new audiences, ensuring that diverse communities can shape these discussions. The first public conversation event will take place at Manchester International Festival at Aviva Studios in July 2025.

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