NEWS
The Royal Ballet and Opera announces 2025/26 Season
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Today, the Royal Ballet and Opera launches its 2025/26 Season, unveiling an unforgettable programme of new commissions, world premieres and much-loved revivals alongside the first annual festival connecting the worlds of opera and technology.
The Season marks an exciting new chapter for The Royal Opera as it welcomes its seventh Music Director Jakub Hruša, and Speranza Scappucci as Principal Guest Conductor, who both join Royal Ballet Music Director Koen Kessels as RBO’s trio of Maestri.
Opening the Season, Hruša and Director of Opera, Oliver Mears present a new production of Tosca – one of eight new productions throughout the year. Hruša will go on to lead The Royal Opera’s first-ever staging of Janácek’s haunting and enigmatic opera The Makropulos Case, in a contemporary new production by Katie Mitchell. He will also conduct the first revival of Deborah Warner’s acclaimed production of Peter Grimes and, in a nod to his musical heritage, he will lead the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Royal Opera Chorus in a concert featuring music by Bartók and Dvorák.
Jakub Hruša, Music Director of The Royal Opera said:
“From my first experience working at The Royal Opera in 2018, it was clear to me that here is a place where the art form can be performed at the highest conceivable level. The repertoire we will work on together will be diverse and open to all directions and styles, covering the entire span of 300 years of the core repertoire. I am immensely looking forward to all of this and feel so beautifully welcomed by RBO.”
In a first for the industry, the Linbury Theatre will play host to the inaugural RBO/Shift. Curated by The Royal Opera’s Associate Director Netia Jones, the festival will explore the shifting boundary between opera and technology, with a focus on the ever-growing world of artificial intelligence (AI). Four days of talks, interactions and performances will explore how artists and producers interact with AI in the most exciting way, and what new experiences audiences can expect from this transformation.
Netia Jones, Associate Director of The Royal Opera said:
“For 300 years, opera makers have adopted contemporary technologies for live performance. The new frontier for opera, as for the world, is AI. Artificial intelligence represents a paradigm shift - only the arrival of electricity might equal its profound potential effect on theatre, and on the society around it. AI has the potential to affect every aspect of creativity and thought, and RBO/Shift aims to explore what it might mean for opera making, and what might be the most original, responsible, intriguing and imaginative ways of approaching it.”
From new faces to new works, The Royal Ballet’s 2025/26 Season brings the best of British ballet to the stage. Highlights include world premieres from two of the UK’s leading choreographers, Wayne McGregor and Cathy Marston. In Wayne McGregor: Alchemies, a mixed programme of pure poetry and power, the Company presents the world premiere of a new McGregor ballet, alongside two recent works that are testament to the choreographer's ceaseless imagination and fiercely collaborative spirit. Following her award-winning success with The Cellist, a brand-new abstract work by Cathy Marston forms part of Perspectives: Balanchine, Marston, Peck. This world premiere takes inspiration from its score, Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto. Also featured is George Balanchine’s ethereal Serenade and Justin Peck’s uplifting Everywhere We Go – the first work by Peck to be performed by The Royal Ballet.
In a thrilling Royal Ballet debut, choreographic duo Paul Lightfoot and Sol León will stage a double bill, So Are We: León and Lightfoot. Originally choreographed as a film by Lightfoot during the pandemic in homage to the balletic art form, STANDBY will now be recreated by the duo as a world premiere for the Company, accompanied by a newly composed score by Ilya Demutsky. Shoot the Moon, celebrating its 20th anniversary, explores relationships and the solitude that lies within them.
In July, contemporary choreographer Akram Khan poetically reimagines Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin in a new full-length ballet, Carnage and the Divine. Themes of innocence, desire, hope and memory will be explored through Khan’s contemporary lens, metaphorical sensibility and distinctive dance language. This brand-new production brings to the forefront Khan’s collaborative spirit alongside a world-class creative team, dancers of The Royal Ballet and guest artists.
Following its world premiere at Manchester International Festival, A Single Man will be presented in the Linbury Theatre. Former Royal Ballet dancer Jonathan Watkins reimagines Christopher Isherwood’s novel A Single Man as an exhilarating contemporary ballet with new live music from John Grant and Jasmin Kent Rodgman.
In the year of Glen Tetley's centenary, the American choreographer's surreal 1962 Pierrot Lunaire is revived. Re-interpreting Arnold Schoenberg’s atonal spoken song melodrama of the same name, Tetley takes stock characters from the 18th-century theatrical tradition of commedia dell’arte and throws them into an austere set by designer Rouben Ter-Arutunian.
Following its recently acclaimed critical reception, Osipova/Linbury returns to the Linbury Theatre in a programme shining a spotlight on Principal dancer Natalia Osipova. The programme will include a revival of The Exhibition by Norwegian choreographer Jo Strømgren.
Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet said:
“We’re delighted to unveil this Season's programme, which celebrates the boundless creativity and vision of the Company. From beloved revivals by our founding and resident choreographers, to thrilling new works on our stages, each piece represents a unique voice and perspective, inviting audiences into compelling worlds of movement and expression. At the heart of every Season are our remarkable Royal Ballet dancers, and we’re honoured to collaborate with such talented artists and with guest companies - sharing these transformative performances with our audiences.”
Across the Season, both Companies will revive much loved favourites while exploring unforgettable new productions. Conducted by Antonio Pappano, the third instalment of Wagner’s Ring cycle, Siegfried, will be brought to life under Barrie Kosky’s brilliantly imaginative eye. Multi award-winning director Richard Jones also returns to Covent Garden to direct a new production of I puritani. The opera Company’s series of Handel works written for Covent Garden continues, with two directing debuts: Jetske Mijnssen directs Ariodante on the Main Stage, while Handel’s 1737 work Giustino will open the opera’s Linbury Season directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins.
The Royal Opera's exploration of Benjamin Britten works continues with The Turn of the Screw in an atmospheric new staging created by Natalie Abrahami and Michael Levine. The Jette Parker Artists present the work of three female composers in one show – Jette Parker Artists: Three Chamber Operas. Directed and conducted by JPAs Talia Stern and Peggy Wu, the mixed bill features Elizabeth Maconchy’s The Departure, Charlotte Bray’s Making Arrangements and Elena Langer’s Four Sisters.
Oliver Mears, Director of Opera, The Royal Opera said:
“Our 2025/26 Season represents an exciting new chapter for the Company. Starting their tenures as Music Director and Principal Guest Conductor, Jakub Hruša and Speranza Scappucci bring their unique musical brilliance and ability to communicate and inspire, continuing our proud tradition of superlative music-making; Netia Jones begins her tenure as Associate Director with a focus on bold innovation and AI; and across both stages we are thrilled to present productions featuring the very finest singers, conductors and directors. In sum – a Season of great theatre, great music, and some of the greatest masterpieces of the repertoire.”
Throughout the Season, The Royal Ballet continues its commitment to presenting works by the most exciting choreographic and performing talent, welcoming an incredible line-up of guest companies including Ballet Black, Fallen Angels Dance Theatre, Joburg Ballet, London City Ballet, Northern Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Yorke Dance Project and Tulsa Ballet, as well as the annual International Draft Works and Next Generation Festival programmes.
Across the Season, Royal Ballet and Opera Cinema will bring world-class performances to more than 1,500 cinemas around the world, offering audiences a front-row experience of productions including Tosca, The Nutcracker, Giselle and Siegfried. It will also be the largest ever Season of accessible performances, offering audio-described, captioned, British Sign Language (BSL) interpreted performances, supporting resources such as touch tours and visual story guides, and sensory adapted relaxed performances of productions including A Single Man, Little Red Riding Hood, Pierrot Lunaire, La Fille mal gardée, and for opera: Last Days and JPA: Three Chamber Operas.
Learning and outreach continues to be at the heart of the Royal Ballet and Opera, making sure everyone has the opportunity to get involved with singing, dancing and design. Growing and scaling existing national programmes, work will continue with core centres including Rotherham, Bradford and Thurrock, as well as through online lessons, teacher training and Schools’ Matinees.
Alex Beard, Chief Executive of the Royal Ballet and Opera, said:
“This Season more people than ever before will have the opportunity to enjoy the incredible work on our stages, in schools and cinemas across the UK, and through streaming and digital media, right across the world. Central to the mission that guides us, we are absolutely committed to extend our leading nationwide schools and community outreach programmes, ensuring that people of all ages and backgrounds can experience the joys of singing, dance and design.”
The Season marks an exciting new chapter for The Royal Opera as it welcomes its seventh Music Director Jakub Hruša, and Speranza Scappucci as Principal Guest Conductor, who both join Royal Ballet Music Director Koen Kessels as RBO’s trio of Maestri.
Opening the Season, Hruša and Director of Opera, Oliver Mears present a new production of Tosca – one of eight new productions throughout the year. Hruša will go on to lead The Royal Opera’s first-ever staging of Janácek’s haunting and enigmatic opera The Makropulos Case, in a contemporary new production by Katie Mitchell. He will also conduct the first revival of Deborah Warner’s acclaimed production of Peter Grimes and, in a nod to his musical heritage, he will lead the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Royal Opera Chorus in a concert featuring music by Bartók and Dvorák.
Jakub Hruša, Music Director of The Royal Opera said:
“From my first experience working at The Royal Opera in 2018, it was clear to me that here is a place where the art form can be performed at the highest conceivable level. The repertoire we will work on together will be diverse and open to all directions and styles, covering the entire span of 300 years of the core repertoire. I am immensely looking forward to all of this and feel so beautifully welcomed by RBO.”
In a first for the industry, the Linbury Theatre will play host to the inaugural RBO/Shift. Curated by The Royal Opera’s Associate Director Netia Jones, the festival will explore the shifting boundary between opera and technology, with a focus on the ever-growing world of artificial intelligence (AI). Four days of talks, interactions and performances will explore how artists and producers interact with AI in the most exciting way, and what new experiences audiences can expect from this transformation.
Netia Jones, Associate Director of The Royal Opera said:
“For 300 years, opera makers have adopted contemporary technologies for live performance. The new frontier for opera, as for the world, is AI. Artificial intelligence represents a paradigm shift - only the arrival of electricity might equal its profound potential effect on theatre, and on the society around it. AI has the potential to affect every aspect of creativity and thought, and RBO/Shift aims to explore what it might mean for opera making, and what might be the most original, responsible, intriguing and imaginative ways of approaching it.”
From new faces to new works, The Royal Ballet’s 2025/26 Season brings the best of British ballet to the stage. Highlights include world premieres from two of the UK’s leading choreographers, Wayne McGregor and Cathy Marston. In Wayne McGregor: Alchemies, a mixed programme of pure poetry and power, the Company presents the world premiere of a new McGregor ballet, alongside two recent works that are testament to the choreographer's ceaseless imagination and fiercely collaborative spirit. Following her award-winning success with The Cellist, a brand-new abstract work by Cathy Marston forms part of Perspectives: Balanchine, Marston, Peck. This world premiere takes inspiration from its score, Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto. Also featured is George Balanchine’s ethereal Serenade and Justin Peck’s uplifting Everywhere We Go – the first work by Peck to be performed by The Royal Ballet.
In a thrilling Royal Ballet debut, choreographic duo Paul Lightfoot and Sol León will stage a double bill, So Are We: León and Lightfoot. Originally choreographed as a film by Lightfoot during the pandemic in homage to the balletic art form, STANDBY will now be recreated by the duo as a world premiere for the Company, accompanied by a newly composed score by Ilya Demutsky. Shoot the Moon, celebrating its 20th anniversary, explores relationships and the solitude that lies within them.
In July, contemporary choreographer Akram Khan poetically reimagines Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin in a new full-length ballet, Carnage and the Divine. Themes of innocence, desire, hope and memory will be explored through Khan’s contemporary lens, metaphorical sensibility and distinctive dance language. This brand-new production brings to the forefront Khan’s collaborative spirit alongside a world-class creative team, dancers of The Royal Ballet and guest artists.
Following its world premiere at Manchester International Festival, A Single Man will be presented in the Linbury Theatre. Former Royal Ballet dancer Jonathan Watkins reimagines Christopher Isherwood’s novel A Single Man as an exhilarating contemporary ballet with new live music from John Grant and Jasmin Kent Rodgman.
In the year of Glen Tetley's centenary, the American choreographer's surreal 1962 Pierrot Lunaire is revived. Re-interpreting Arnold Schoenberg’s atonal spoken song melodrama of the same name, Tetley takes stock characters from the 18th-century theatrical tradition of commedia dell’arte and throws them into an austere set by designer Rouben Ter-Arutunian.
Following its recently acclaimed critical reception, Osipova/Linbury returns to the Linbury Theatre in a programme shining a spotlight on Principal dancer Natalia Osipova. The programme will include a revival of The Exhibition by Norwegian choreographer Jo Strømgren.
Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet said:
“We’re delighted to unveil this Season's programme, which celebrates the boundless creativity and vision of the Company. From beloved revivals by our founding and resident choreographers, to thrilling new works on our stages, each piece represents a unique voice and perspective, inviting audiences into compelling worlds of movement and expression. At the heart of every Season are our remarkable Royal Ballet dancers, and we’re honoured to collaborate with such talented artists and with guest companies - sharing these transformative performances with our audiences.”
Across the Season, both Companies will revive much loved favourites while exploring unforgettable new productions. Conducted by Antonio Pappano, the third instalment of Wagner’s Ring cycle, Siegfried, will be brought to life under Barrie Kosky’s brilliantly imaginative eye. Multi award-winning director Richard Jones also returns to Covent Garden to direct a new production of I puritani. The opera Company’s series of Handel works written for Covent Garden continues, with two directing debuts: Jetske Mijnssen directs Ariodante on the Main Stage, while Handel’s 1737 work Giustino will open the opera’s Linbury Season directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins.
The Royal Opera's exploration of Benjamin Britten works continues with The Turn of the Screw in an atmospheric new staging created by Natalie Abrahami and Michael Levine. The Jette Parker Artists present the work of three female composers in one show – Jette Parker Artists: Three Chamber Operas. Directed and conducted by JPAs Talia Stern and Peggy Wu, the mixed bill features Elizabeth Maconchy’s The Departure, Charlotte Bray’s Making Arrangements and Elena Langer’s Four Sisters.
Oliver Mears, Director of Opera, The Royal Opera said:
“Our 2025/26 Season represents an exciting new chapter for the Company. Starting their tenures as Music Director and Principal Guest Conductor, Jakub Hruša and Speranza Scappucci bring their unique musical brilliance and ability to communicate and inspire, continuing our proud tradition of superlative music-making; Netia Jones begins her tenure as Associate Director with a focus on bold innovation and AI; and across both stages we are thrilled to present productions featuring the very finest singers, conductors and directors. In sum – a Season of great theatre, great music, and some of the greatest masterpieces of the repertoire.”
Throughout the Season, The Royal Ballet continues its commitment to presenting works by the most exciting choreographic and performing talent, welcoming an incredible line-up of guest companies including Ballet Black, Fallen Angels Dance Theatre, Joburg Ballet, London City Ballet, Northern Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Yorke Dance Project and Tulsa Ballet, as well as the annual International Draft Works and Next Generation Festival programmes.
Across the Season, Royal Ballet and Opera Cinema will bring world-class performances to more than 1,500 cinemas around the world, offering audiences a front-row experience of productions including Tosca, The Nutcracker, Giselle and Siegfried. It will also be the largest ever Season of accessible performances, offering audio-described, captioned, British Sign Language (BSL) interpreted performances, supporting resources such as touch tours and visual story guides, and sensory adapted relaxed performances of productions including A Single Man, Little Red Riding Hood, Pierrot Lunaire, La Fille mal gardée, and for opera: Last Days and JPA: Three Chamber Operas.
Learning and outreach continues to be at the heart of the Royal Ballet and Opera, making sure everyone has the opportunity to get involved with singing, dancing and design. Growing and scaling existing national programmes, work will continue with core centres including Rotherham, Bradford and Thurrock, as well as through online lessons, teacher training and Schools’ Matinees.
“This Season more people than ever before will have the opportunity to enjoy the incredible work on our stages, in schools and cinemas across the UK, and through streaming and digital media, right across the world. Central to the mission that guides us, we are absolutely committed to extend our leading nationwide schools and community outreach programmes, ensuring that people of all ages and backgrounds can experience the joys of singing, dance and design.”
