Tête à Tête Announces Bold 2026 Programme: From School Halls
to Main Stages– Looking to the Future via Transformative Cultural
Encounters
Rapidly approaching their 30th anniversary season, Tête à Tête, home of daring contemporary
opera, reaffirms its reputation as a driving force behind the evolution of new opera in Cornwall,
Tyneside, London and beyond. With nearly three decades of work, the company continues to
support emerging artists, rethink how opera is made, and open up access to the art form
through international collaboration, education, and performance.
12 May 2026. For immediate release.
● The latest chapter in Tête à Tête’s longstanding partnership with the Royal College of
Music, Fantasy & Fairytales (3–6 July) will include five short new operas, this time
created for young audiences. More info found HERE.
● Fantasy & Fairytalesincludes Daniel Musashi’s Ogga Loggas, in which ancient forests and
age-old curses teach us the importance of looking after our world, and Lasha
Kharkhelauri’s Ramona, a Georgian tale of love and upheaval set inside a puppet
theatre as well as Asher Joyce’s Three Lives, Deniz Dortok’s The Boy Who Went to Find
Fear and Ruvin Meda’s The Nightingale and the Rose.
● The creative team for Fantasy & Fairytales is led by Tête à Tête Artistic Director Bill
Bankes-Jones, conductor Michael Rosewell and designer Sarah Jane Booth.
● Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival will also return to London from 8-20 September. The
company’s flagship festival will once again showcase bold, original works from across
the UK and around the world. Since its launch in 2007, the festival has premiered
hundreds of new operas and become a vital platform for emerging talent.
● Speaking on the Tête à Tête’s mission, Artistic Director Bill Bankes-Jones wrote in a
recent blog post, “what we love about theatre is coming together, not being apart.”
● In North Tyneside and Cornwall, Tête à Tête brought The Rain Show (20-25 April), a
vibrant collaboration between British and Kenyan artists, delivered in partnership with
Baraka Opera, Kenya and Across Arts (led by producer Helene Mathiesen). The
creative team included Composer Shaka Lakwi, Librettist Nami Shah and set design by
Pungulu Pa! Productions.
● The Rain Show brought creative workshops into schools across North Tyneside and
Cornwall, introducing young people to opera through cross-cultural exchange. On 25th
April, the run culminated with a public performance at Lavethan Barn.
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
The Rain Show
Dates: 20–25 April 2026
Location: Tyneside and Cornwall (various locations, including Lavethan Barn)
Eventlink: https://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/event/the-rain-show/
Overview:
A collaboration between British and Kenyan artists, The Rain Show brought workshops and
performance into schools across North Tyneside and Cornwall. Delivered in partnership with
Across Arts (led by producer Helene Mathiesen), and Baraka Opera Kenya, the project
introduced young people to opera through cross-cultural exchange and culminated in a public
performance at Lavethan Barn on 25 April.
Creative Team & Cast:
● Librettist: Nami Shah
● Composer: Shaka Lwaki
● Performers / Workshop Leaders: Mariah Gichu, Nami Shah, Patrick Alovi, Yovan
Barkisoy
● Composer Mentor: Tim Burke
● Backdrops Design: Pungulu Pa! Productions
Production Credits:
● Creative Producer: Helene Mathiesen (Across Arts CIC)
● Produced by: Baraka Opera Kenya, Across Arts, Tête à Tête
● In collaboration with: North Tyneside Music Education Hub; ASONE Hub, Cornwall
Fantasy & Fairytales
Dates: 3–6 July 2026
Location: Royal College of Music, London
Eventlink: https://www.rcm.ac.uk/events/festival-details/?id=RCM%20Opera
Overview:
Five new short operas created for young audiences, continuing Tête à Tête’s longstanding
partnership with the Royal College of Music. The project supports the next generation of
composers and performers while welcoming new audiences to opera. Each opera opens out a
different fantastical world, drawing on folklore and storytelling to explore human experience.
Featured Works Include:
● Ogga Loggas(Daniel Musashi)
● Ramona (Lasha Kharkhelauri)
● Three Lives(Asher Joyce)
● The Boy Who Went to Find Fear (Deniz Dortok)
● The Nightingale and the Rose (Ruvin Meda)
Creative Team:
● Director: Bill Bankes-Jones
● Conductor: Michael Rosewell
● Designer: Sarah Jane Booth
Supporters:
● RCM Opera Studio supported by the Patrick and Helena Frost Foundation and Old
Possum’s Practical Trust
● Tête à Tête supported by Arts Council England and the Friends of Tête à Tête
Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival
Dates: 8–20 September 2026
Location: London (Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone)
Save the date: https://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/save-the-dates-for-tete-a-tete-2026/
Overview:
Tête à Tête’s flagship festival returns, presenting adventurous new opera from across the UK
and internationally. Since 2007, the festival has premiered hundreds of works and remains a
vital platform for emerging artists.
Programme Highlights (in development):
● The Promise – exploring relationships between people and their languages,
incorporating Cantonese
● A Hong Kong artist returns with the fourth episode of a large-scale cycle inspired by
Journey to the West
● Making Europe Audible – an international collaboration spanning Finland, Luxembourg,
Switzerland, and Germany
● A Ukrainian composer responding to the powerful and urgent story of Azovstal
● Of Earth and Quill 2, A new work from the creator of Song Queen: The Nigerian Pidgin
Opera exploring neurodivergence and new pathways to access and the unconscious.
● Arlodhes a Shalott – a Cornish-language setting of Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott
● Frankenstein (CN Lester & Jamie Hale) – This work incorporates trans and disabled
bodies and voices, opera, spoken word and electronic music with found text from the
novel to bring questions of climate, embodiment and interdependence to the fore.
● Canadian artist Caitlin Redding zooming in on the effect of her disability from within
her circus-meets-opera performance – in mid-air!
● An opera on the last eight days of Mary Queen of Scots
A quadruple bill of young composers:
● Broken Ivy A show about nature, human nature
● Fence Off! A fencing duel between a longstanding champion and a young,
out-of-the-box fencer
● The Promise isinspired by ideas around the relationship between people and their languages,
and how language shapes human connection.
● Meet the Philips, an intimate, funny show re. a couple living together, facing marriage
troubles that emerge through an argument about the TV