Spring Season, Final Concert – Jonathan Leibowitz: Sonatas for Clarinet
The Girling Room, The Minories, Colchester, CO1 1UE
Thursday 22 May, 7.30pm
Classic FM “Rising Star” Jonathan Leibowitz performs works by Debussy, Brahms, Poulenc, and more.
May – September 2025
Summer Season 2025
For our fourth summer season we travel to pre-revolutionary Russia in Dominic Dromgoole’s staging of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and to a sunny, 1950s Italian seaside village with our revival of The Elixir of Love. That alongside an opera gala that takes our audience from Handel and Puccini to Cole Porter...
Our Shows
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
June – September
Tchaikovsky’s stunning exploration of life, death, love, and pride in pre-revolutionary Russia – realising Pushkin’s story with breathtaking passion and lyricism. Dominic Dromgoole directs a stellar cast led by Galina Averina and Timothy Nelson, alongside a world-class chamber orchestra.
Donizetti: The Elixir of Love
June – August
Donizetti's sun-kissed comedy in our hit production by Guido Martin-Brandis. With a fabulous cast led by Galina Averina, a mischievous new translation from Joseph Morris, and a sparkling new orchestration specially made for the fine chamber musicians of the Wild Arts Ensemble.
An Evening of Opera at...
May – August
An evening of operatic and musical hits, semi-staged by director James Hurley, and woven into a sparkling new narrative. Performed by four fabulous singers and a world-class string quintet, follow our characters as they travel through 75 minutes of music, from Handel and Puccini to Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim.
Headline Summer Festivals
The Essex Summer Opera Festival at Layer Marney Tower
The Essex Summer Opera Festival at Layer Marney Tower
The Essex Summer Opera Festival at Layer Marney Tower
Tuesday 17 June – Sunday 22 June
See both our summer operas at the magnificent Tudor red-brick mansion Layer Marney Tower, overlooking the Blackwater River.
Picnic in the gardens and grounds and enjoy the opera in the beautifully renovated Opera Barn.
Opera at Kelvedon Hall
The Essex Summer Opera Festival at Layer Marney Tower
The Essex Summer Opera Festival at Layer Marney Tower
Saturday 28 June Eugene Onegin
Sunday 29 June The Elixir of Love (matinee)
A return to this fantastic venue where Henry 'Chips' Channon wrote his famous diaries. You will be seated under cover in the beautiful Rose Garden amphitheatre, an intimate space with grass embankments and perfect acoustics for live music. Set up your picnics in the beautiful gardens.
Opera at Forde Abbey
The Essex Summer Opera Festival at Layer Marney Tower
Opera at Forde Abbey
Wednesday 2 July Eugene Onegin
Thursday 3 July The Elixir of Love
Forde Abbey is a truly stunning house in Dorset and we're delighted to return for a third year after two sold out visits for the inaugural Forde Abbey Opera Festival.
Picnic in the beautiful grounds and enjoy the performance in the impressive Great Hall.
25th Anniversary Celebration – September 2025
The Roman River Festival 2025
Join us for an unmissable celebration of a quarter of a century of memorable chamber music, surprising spaces, beautiful visual art and ceramics, breath-taking performers, street dance, poetry, and more...
Triple and Titan at Saffron Hall: Beethoven Triple Concerto & Mahler Symphony No 1
October 3 – Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden
Following the finale of the Roman River Festival in Coggeshall on 27 September, the Wild Arts Ensemble bring two of the classical canons' greatest works to Saffron Hall – Beethoven's Triple Concerto in C major (with leading soloists Tom Poster, Elena Urioste, and Laura Van der Heijden) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.
Winter 2025 and Future Programme
Messiah & Beyond
Our Messiah returns this December to venues including Layer Marney Tower, Smith Square Hall in London, Chichester Cathedral, and more.
Messiah
December 2025
Following two sell-out tours in 2023 and 2024, our Messiah returns to Layer Marney, Smith Square Hall, Chichester Cathedral, and more. Semi-staged by director Tom Morris (War Horse), with singers performing from memory and a chamber orchestra of period instruments.
Future Programme (2026 and Onwards)
From seasonal chamber music and opera projects to new commissions, recording projects, and symphonic arrangements. Including Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (with Xavier Hetherington and Marta Fontanals-Simmons) in Spring 2026, The Marriage of Figaro next Summer, and a dramatisation of Bach's St John Passion.
Fast selling shows
Our performances at the Minack Theatre, Opera Holland Park, Falconhurst (Kent), Wolterton Hall (Norfolk) and Forde Abbey (Dorset) are selling fast. Do book your seats soon to secure your tickets.