Opera North brings a new production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen to Nevill Holt Festival in Leicestershire in June 2027, directed by Robin Norton-Hale. There are four performances, with priority booking from 20 October.
Carmen heads the first wave of announcements for Nevill Holt Festival 2027. Opera North presents a new staging of Georges Bizet’s opera at the Nevill Holt Theatre on 8, 12, 17 and 20 June 2027. Every performance starts at 17.00.
The director is Robin Norton-Hale, a multi-award-winning director who is Artistic Director and CEO of English Touring Opera. No casting was included in the announcement.
Booking opens in stages. Festival Patrons get first access from 20 October 2026, Festival Champions follow from 27 October, and Festival Friends and Under 35s from 3 November. General booking opens on 5 November 2026.
The plot needs little setting up. Its heroine lives by her own rules and will not be owned, and when the soldier Don José becomes infatuated with her, his longing curdles into jealousy and a fight over her freedom that ends in catastrophe. Bizet set a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, adapted from Prosper Mérimée’s novella, and the score’s Spanish colour has kept the piece among the most performed operas since its 1875 premiere. At Nevill Holt it will be staged in the festival’s 400-seat opera house.
Festival founder David Ross said: “Opera has always been at the heart of Nevill Holt, and I’m thrilled that our partnership with Opera North will continue in 2027 with one of the greatest and most enduring works in the repertoire. Carmen is a perfect fit for the intimacy of our theatre: passionate, dramatic and filled with extraordinary music, and I’m very excited to see what Robin Norton-Hale brings to it.”
Laura Canning, General Director & CEO of Opera North, added: “With its compelling storyline and unforgettable melodies, it is little wonder that Carmen continues to captivate audiences worldwide. We look forward to bringing Bizet’s electrifying tale of obsession and the inexorability of fate to this stunning theatre - surely one of the most beautiful places to experience opera in the UK.”
The opera continues a link between the festival and Opera North that began in 2025 with a sold-out Così fan tutte and went on to Donizetti’s Don Pasquale in 2026. David Ross launched the event as Nevill Holt Opera in 2013, and it became Nevill Holt Festival in 2024.
Next year’s festival runs from 4-26 June 2027 and also spans music, jazz, comedy and cabaret. The main programme will be revealed in January, when tickets for the rest of the festival go on sale.
