BUXTON INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL CELEBRATES AN
EXCEPTIONAL 2023 FESTIVAL AND ANNOUNCES BIG
PLANS FOR 2024 (4-21 JULY)
“The festival is an embarrassment of riches.” Matthew Parris, The Times
Buxton International Festival (BIF) is celebrating an exceptional 2023 festival which far
exceeded attendance expectations with sell-out events and accolades across the board. Once
again, the Festival’s cutting-edge opera programme emerged as the greatest draw with its
popular books programme a close second. On the back of this fantastic year, the Festival
announces its plans for 2024 with five eagerly awaited operas and, in a major coup for BIF, a
performance from the Cuban-British director, choreographer and ballet dancer, Carlos
Acosta.
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Highlights from BIF 2023 include:
150 events over 18 days
28,821 tickets sold
29% of the total BIF audience attended Bellini’s opera, La sonnambula
Over 2,000 people attended the top book events between Jeremy Bowen, Alastair
Campbell and Dame Kate Bingham
Commenting, Adrian Kelly, Buxton’s artistic director said: “Buxton International Festival
has built its success on a commitment to the highest artistic standards in opera, music, books
and jazz. As we watch our audiences grow and return year after year, we realise we have the
formula to produce something very special each year. With the festival’s ambition and
popularity on the climb, we are excited to announce our plans for 2024.”
BIF ANNOUNCES 2024 OPERAS
Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Ernani’
Giuseppi Verdi’s Ernani is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts which tells the
tragic love story of Elvira, who is caught between three men: her lover, her
guardian and the King of Spain. Adrian Kelly conducts this new BIF production
in Buxton Opera House with The Orchestra of Opera North.
George Frideric Handel’s ‘Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno’
Following the success of Acis & Galatea at Buxton in 2021, the festival joins forces
with The Early Opera Company for a new production of Handel’s Il Trionfo del
Tempo e del Disingannol conducted by Christian Curnyn in Buxton Opera House.
Peter Brook’s adaptation of Bizet’s ‘La Tragedie de Carmen’
In its second collaboration with Norwich Theatre, BIF presents Peter Brook’s
adaptation of Bizet’s La Tragedie de Carmen in Buxton Opera House. Brook’s
adaptation includes elements of the Georges Bizet opera as well as the original
Prosper Mérimée novella on which Bizet’s opera was based.
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Ethel Smyth, ‘The Boatswain’s Mate’
This brand-new BIF production, written by British composer and suffragette Ethyl
Smyth, centres around a humorous battle of the sexes on the seafront in Margate. It’s
full of twists and turns complete with all the quintessential sounds and sights of
British summertime. Performed at the Pavilion Arts Centre.
Joseph Haydn’s ‘La Canterina’
The last of the BIF’s new productions for 2024 is Haydn’s two-act operetta, La
canterina. This comedic opera has all the ingredients for a riotous show with its
stock-in-trade buffo figures: the aspiring, money-grabbing diva; her mother adept at
procuring suitors; an oily, lascivious singing teacher and a wealthy young lover.
Performed at the Pavilion Arts Centre.
CARLOS ACOSTA
Superstar Cuban-British director, choreographer and ballet dancer, Carlos Acosta, will make
his debut at Buxton International Festival with his intensely personal evening of dance, ‘On
Before’. Acosta, a long-time principal dancer at the Royal Ballet, has danced as a guest
principal with all the major ballet companies across the world and now enjoys a mighty
career as a director and choreographer. ‘On Before’ pays homage to Acosta’s late mother
featuring choreography by world renowned artists, including Russell Maliphant, Kim
Brandstrup, and Will Tuckett. Acosta will perform as both a soloist and alongside Laura
Rodríguez, a founding member of his Cuban dance company, Acosta Danza.
Commenting on 2024, Michael Williams, BIF’s CEO said: “We are literally dancing into
2024, with megastar Carlos Acosta and a line-up of operas, books and jazz that will make
your mouth water. We are all looking to the arts to lift the spirits and Buxton promises to
deliver.”
JAZZ WEEKENDER
BIF’s opening Jazz Weekender, now an eagerly-awaited festival opener, features the ‘Adrian
Cox Clarinet Fantasy’ with special guest, Tommy Blaize (a regular on BBC TV’s Strictly
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Come Dancing). Other highlights include Super Monday, Ubunye, Zoe Rahman, Nearly
Dan and Ian Shaw.
Commenting, Neil Hughes jazz director said: “The Jazz Weekender has been causing ripples
across the jazz world with our star-studded line ups. Now in its third year, we will set the bar
high once more.”
FESTIVAL TIMELINE FOR 2024
Priority Booking for Carlos Acosta and Jazz Weekenders opens on 27 November 2023.
The full programme and festival brochure will be issued on Monday 26 February, with
Priority Booking opening on 5 March and Public Booking on 2 April 2024.
For further information visit: www.buxtonfestival.co.uk