Back to its roots and looking to the future: Buxton International Festival 2025

For 2025, the Buxton International Festival is returning to its roots and looking to the future. 

The company will be mounting a new production of Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet, which was one of the festival’s earliest successes with Sir Thomas Allen in the title role, and yes, I was there! But alongside this the festival has commissioned four new one-act operas to form an evening’s programme, Shorts. 

Hamlet will be presented in a new festival production with festival artistic director, Adrian Kelly conducting the orchestra of Opera North. Other operas planned include a double bill of Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Taihiti and Francis Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, a co-production with Norwich Theatre, and Mozart’s The Impresario, in a production by Opera Zuid. In addition, Vache Baroque will bring Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers to the Pavilion Arts Centre.

The festival has commissioned a group of award-winning artists to create four 20-minute operas, Shorts, which will be premièred and performed together in July 2025. The Shorts are composed by Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, Jasper Dommett, Martin Green, Carmel Smickersgill and Yshani Perinpanayagam, with librettos by Zodwa Nyoni, Josh Overton and Jessica Walker. Directors include Marcus Desando and Rebecca Meltzer, designer Elliott Squire and repetiteur Paul McKenzie.

Commenting, Adrian Kelly the festival’s artistic director said: “While opera remains a captivating experience for those who have already discovered it, there is no question that audiences need a boost. All companies that produce opera have a responsibility to look to the future. At the heart of this mission is our desire to bring opera to new audiences and we are also excited to introduce fresh visionary forces. Our creatives come with a diverse range of styles and inspirations as well as an impressive line-up of credits between them, including an Ivor Novello Award, a Sunday Times Best Playwright Award, as well as Netflix, BBC and Channel 4 writing credits.”

Full details from the festival website.