ENO’s New Music Director André de Ridder announced
Kip Williams (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula) to direct Angel’s Bone
English National Opera has announced its new season for 2025 to 2026, in London and Manchester.
The opera company also revealed today that André de Ridder has been named as the new Music Director of English National Opera, with his first conducting engagement as Music Director Designate taking place in February 2026 at the London Coliseum.
André de Ridder will become Music Director Designate in September 2025 and take up his post fully as Music Director in Autumn 2027. Known for his innovative approach, he has worked with the Hallé Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and previously conducted ENO premieres including The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant and Sunken Garden.
ENO’s new 2025-2026 season will feature 12 productions and concerts in London and Greater Manchester, including five new productions, major revivals, and national broadcast partnerships.
Public booking for ENO’s new season opens on 4 June 2025.
ENO Artistic Director Annilese Miskimmon said the season includes “ambitious new productions and the ongoing expansion of our work nationally”. New operas include Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking starring Christine Rice and Michael Mayes, and Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny conducted by de Ridder and starring Danielle de Niese.
New productions for 2025 & 2026
Highlights of the new season include new stagings of Dead Man Walking, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Albert Herring, Cinderella (La Cenerentola) and Angel’s Bone.
Jake Heggie’s first opera Dead Man Walking will open 25 years after its original premiere, directed by Annilese Miskimmon and conducted by Kerem Hasan. The opera will star Christine Rice as Sister Helen Prejean, Joseph de Rocher as death-row inmate Michael Mayes, and Dame Sarah Connolly as Mrs Patrick de Rocher.
Jamie Manton directs a new production of Kurt Weill’s political satire Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, conducted by André de Ridder, and starring Rosie Aldridge, Kenneth Kellogg and Mark Le Brocq as the three fugitives Leokadja Begbick, Trinity Moses and Fatty the Bookkeeper, with Danielle de Niese as Jenny Smith.
The new production of Rossini’s Cinderella (La Cenerentola) will be directed by Julia Burbach, conducted by Yi-Chen Lin, and starring Deepa Johnny as Angelina, Aaron Godfrey-Mayes as Don Ramiro, Charles Rice as Dandini, Simon Bailey as Don Magnifico, and former Harewood Artist David Ireland as Alidoro.
A new staging of Benjamin Britten’s comic ensemble opera Albert Herring is opening at the Coliseum and then transferring to the Lowry in Salford, directed by Antony McDonald and conducted by Daniel Cohen. Caspar Singh leads the cast as Albert Herring, with Emma Bell as Lady Billows, Mark Le Brocq as Mr Upfold the Mayor, and Sir Willard White as Superintendent Budd.
Angel’s Bone creative team announced
ENO will also present the UK premiere of Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone in Manchester, produced by ENO in collaboration with Factory International and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and presented at Aviva Studios in Manchester in May 2026.
The opera will be directed by Australian award-winner Kip Williams (The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook, Dracula starring Cynthia Erivo), who makes his ENO and UK opera debut with the production. Joining him in the creative team will be Olivier Award-winning designer Marg Horwell (The Picture of Dorian Gray).
Opera revivals for 2025 & 2026
Revivals of ENO’s successful productions for 2025 and 2026 include Carmen, Partenope, HMS Pinafore and Così fan tutte.
Returning to the London Coliseum will be Calixto Bieito’s fiery Carmen, directed by Jamie Manton with Haruka Kuroda, and conducted by Clelia Cafiero and Olivia Clarke.
Bizet’s Carmen will star Niamh O’Sullivan, with John Findon as Don José, Cory McGee as toreador Escamillo, and Ava Dodd as Micaela.
Christopher Alden’s acclaimed production of Handel’s Partenope returns for its second revival, conducted by Christian Curnyn, and starring Nardus Williams as Partenope, Hugh Cutting as Arsace, Ru Charlesworth as Emilio, and Jake Ingbar as Armindo.
Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera HMS Pinafore returns to the ENO this Christmas, directed by Cal McCrystal, and conducted by Matthew Kofi Waldren. The opera will star Neal Davies as Sir Joseph, the pompous head of the navy, with John Savournin as Captain Corcoran, Thomas Atkins as Ralph Rackstraw and Henna Mun as Josephine.
A revival of Mozart’s romantic comedy Così fan tutte returns, directed by Artistic Director of Improbable, Phelim McDermott, with Dinis Sousa conducting. The opera stars Samantha Clarke as Fiordiligi and Bethany Horak-Hallett as Dorabella, with Joshua Blue as Ferrando, Darwin Prakash Guglielmo, Andrew Foster-Williams as Don Alfonso, and Ailish Tynan as Despina.
ENO broadcasts and events
A newly created concert of Mozart’s Women: A Musical Journey, directed by Annilese Miskimmon, will be presented at the London Coliseum in September 2025. Created in partnership with ENO, the television concert will be produced by Factory Films for Sky Arts to be broadcast later this year, and hosted by Lauren Laverne and accompanied by the Orchestra of ENO.
ENO will be partnering with BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Singers for Dmitri Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2025, conducted by John Storgårds.
At The Bridgewater Hall, the concert Opera Favourites, performed in collaboration with the Chorus of ENO and the Hallé Orchestra, will take place in June 2025, starring ENO Harewood Artists, Madeline Boreham and Zwakele Tshabalala.
Currently playing at the London Coliseum is Broadway musical The Great Gatsby starring Jamie Muscato & Frances Mayli McCann, which is running for a limited London season until 7 September 2025.
ENO 2025 to 2026 Season – Productions and dates
- Cinderella (La Cenerentola) – 27 September – 14 October 2025 (London Coliseum)
- Carmen (revival) – 8 October – 5 November 2025 (London Coliseum)
- Albert Herring – 13 – 22 October 2025 (London Coliseum)
- Dead Man Walking – 1 – 18 November 2025 (London Coliseum)
- Partenope (revival) – 20 November – 6 December 2025 (London Coliseum)
- HMS Pinafore (revival) – 4 December 2025 – 7 February 2026 (London Coliseum)
- Così fan tutte (revival) – 6 – 21 February 2026 (London Coliseum)
- Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny – 16 – 20 February 2026 (London Coliseum)
- Così fan tutte (Semi-staged concert) – 27 – 28 Feb 2026 (Manchester Classical, The Bridgewater Hall)
- Angel’s Bone – May 2026 (Aviva Studios, Manchester)
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