Our 2027 staged production will be Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring, a chamber opera and a comic opera too, completed almost exactly 80 years ago.
We're delighted that David Wordsworth will return as music director, and Lisa Harrington as stage director.
Auditions will be in May. We'll start rehearsals after our concerts in June. The performances will be in February 2027.
If in the meantime you'd like to have a go at concert singing, please let us know! There's no formal audition for chorus members, and we have rehearsals most Wednesday evenings in Newbury. Get in touch by kennetopera@gmail.com or FB.
So far we have three dates booked:
The 2025 concerts featured our own 'Opera Favourites'. From the 17th century (Purcell) to the 20th (Britten), with lots from Verdi, G&S and Mozart, and finishing with the memorable Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana. As music directors we had David Wordsworth (at Shaw House and Stockcross) and Ben de Souza (at Brimpton). Oliver Williams was once more our accompanist.
Pictures L to R above:
Owain, Great Hall; Anthony and Natalia, Stockcross Church; Don, Great Hall;
Below: everyone, Brimpton Church
We returned in January to the Great Hall in Newbury's Shaw House for our 2026 staged production. It gave British audiences a rare chance to enjoy Susannah, one of the most-performed American operas, and seen as the masterpiece of 'the father of American opera' Carlisle Floyd.
More on Susannah here.
For the first time, our year's main production was by Gilbert & Sullivan. We staged Iolanthe in the Great Hall of Shaw House, Newbury, our third production there. We, and our sellout audience, thoroughly enjoyed it! More here.
