Dorset Opera Festival

Every July, Dorset Opera Festival brings five unforgettable days of opera to the beautiful grounds of Bryanston School in rural Dorset.

Two fully-staged operas. A full orchestra and chorus. International soloists alongside exceptional young talent. Picnics on the lawns, champagne in the marquee, long summer evenings and some of the most adventurous opera programming in the UK.

Whether you are a seasoned opera-lover or discovering opera for the first time, Dorset Opera Festival offers world-class performances in a uniquely warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Opera in glorious Dorset

Performances take place in the Coade Hall theatre at Bryanston School near Blandford Forum, surrounded by rolling Dorset countryside. Audiences arrive early to picnic on the lawns, enjoy drinks in the marquee and soak up the atmosphere before the curtain rises.

Unlike many larger festivals, Dorset Opera Festival combines artistic ambition with an unusually personal atmosphere. Audiences regularly meet performers, creative teams and fellow opera enthusiasts throughout the week.

Internationally acclaimed productions

Founded in 1974, Dorset Opera Festival has earned a national reputation for both musical excellence and adventurous repertoire.

Alongside beloved classics, the Festival has become known for reviving neglected masterpieces and presenting British and world stage premières. Productions have attracted critical acclaim from national press and opera critics alike.

Recent highlights have included:

• Massenet’s Le Cid
• Donizetti’s Gabriella di Vergy
• Gomes’ Salvator Rosa
• Puccini’s Turandot (Berio completion)
• Massenet’s Le Roi de Lahore

A unique summer school

At the heart of Dorset Opera Festival is one of the world’s leading residential opera summer schools.

Young singers, musicians, technicians and theatre-makers work alongside experienced professionals in an intensive and exhilarating environment. Many former chorus members and young artists have gone on to major professional careers — with some returning later as principal soloists.

Join us

Whether you come for a single performance or immerse yourself in the whole Festival week, Dorset Opera Festival offers exceptional opera in an atmosphere unlike any other.

Singers, costume makers, set builders, aspiring lighting and sound engineers, technicians, make-up artists, stage crew, administrative assistants and more all come together to work in a genuine co-operation to make an opera.

Whilst people of all ages are welcome, the concentration is on the 18 to 25 year olds, and for many of these young people, the Dorset Opera Festival provides their first encounter with the demands of putting on first-class opera. For those singing in the chorus, to learn the chorus part of at least two complete operas from memory, in a foreign language, in eleven short days, is no mean feat. Those who may have previously sung in choirs are usually stunned at first by the additional demands made of them in an opera chorus but, with the benefit of vocal and language coaching and working alongside other more experienced chorus members each day, they quickly gain confidence.

It is a tremendous thrill and privilege for these young people to sing and work alongside professionals. This ‘pro-am’ mixture works extremely well for Dorset Opera making it probably the world’s foremost residential opera summer school.