English National Opera (ENO) announces the appointment of André de Ridder as its new Music Director and unveils details of its programme for the 2025/26 Season. Public booking opens on 4 June 2025.
The 2025/26 Season, including five new productions, major broadcast collaborations and revivals, will also mark André de Ridder’s first conducting engagement as Music Director Designate in February 2026.
ENO’s free tickets for Under 21s will be extended for audiences in Greater Manchester. At the London Coliseum, free tickets for Under 21s continue for every performance and at every level of the theatre, with substantial discounts for Under 35s, and ticket prices begin at £15 (including fees).
André de Ridder assumes the position of Music Director Designate in September 2025 and will take up his post as Music Director in Autumn 2027.
He is currently the General Music Director of Theater Freiburg in Baden- Württemberg, Germany, where he has conducted titles such as Wozzeck, Hansel and Gretel, The Magic Flute, Don Carlos, Jenůfa, and Alcina.
In recent seasons, he has appeared as a guest conductor at opera houses including Finnish National Opera, Dutch National Opera, Theater Basel, Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Oper Köln.
André de Ridder assumes the position of Music Director Designate in September 2025.
André de Ridder said, “It is an honour to have been chosen by English National Opera as their new Music Director. I’ve been privileged to have experienced working with ENO early in my career, which has informed and inspired my own approach to repertoire, new work and always exploring perspectives on bringing great opera to wide audiences. I am immensely excited to join them at this time of change and development and to have the chance to work again in the Greater Manchester region too.”
André has strong links with the UK and appears regularly with orchestras such as the Hallé Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra. He additionally curates and performs Unclassified Live at London’s Southbank Centre, a series of genre-defying performances featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Hw has previously conducted for ENO the premieres of Gerald Barry’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant in 2005, and Michel van der Aa’s Sunken Garden in 2013. In 2007, he led the world premiere of Damon Albarn’s and Chen Shi-Zheng’s animation opera, Monkey: Journey to the West at the Manchester International Festival, and subsequent performances at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and Royal Opera House, London.
He has given premieres of works by composers such as Daníel Bjarnason, Bryce Dessner, Max Richter, Wolfgang Rihm and Kaija Saariaho, as well as collaborating with bands such as Dirty Projectors, The Flaming Lips and Gorillaz.
2025/26 Season:
Annilese Miskimmon, Artistic Director of English National Opera, said, “This season showcases new contemporary masterpieces and ENO firsts, alongside the return of our well-loved revivals, and two new broadcast partnerships with Factory Films for Sky Arts and BBC Radio 3, as we continue to expand our work nationally.
“We are thrilled that André is joining ENO and that his first conducting engagement as Music Director Designate will be for our new production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. A passionate advocate for both classical repertoire and contemporary work, his vision and ambition both for the artform and for ENO as a company will make the next years truly industry and audience leading.’
New productions premiering this season:
A new production of Jake Heggie’s first opera Dead Man Walking will open in November 2025, 25 years after its original premiere. In an international and national co-production, it will be presented by ENO during the 2025/26 Season at the London Coliseum, by Opera North in Leeds and on tour in the north in Spring 2027, including at Lowry (Salford Quays), and then by Finnish National Opera in Helsinki in a later season.
Annilese Miskimmon will direct Heggie’s work, and conducting is Kerem Hasan. Starring as Sister Helen Prejean and death-row inmate Joseph de Rocher are internationally renowned performers Christine Rice and Michael Mayes. They will be joined by Dame Sarah Connolly as Mrs Patrick de Rocher.
Also at the London Coliseum, Jamie Manton directs a new production of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny , in February 2026. Conducting is André de Ridder in his first engagement as Music Director Designate.
Leading the cast as the three fugitives, Leokadja Begbick, Trinity Moses and Fatty the Bookkeeper, are Rosie Aldridge, Kenneth Kellogg, and Mark Le Brocq. They will be joined by Danielle de Niese as Jenny Smith.
In September 2025, a new production of Rossini’s Cinderella (La Cenerentola) is directed by Julia Burbach, and conducting is Yi-Chen Lin making her ENO debut. Also debuting at ENO is Deepa Johnny, performing the lead role of Angelina. She will be joined by Aaron Godfrey-Mayes making his ENO debut as Don Ramiro, Charles Rice as Dandini, Simon Bailey as Don Magnifico, and former Harewood Artist David Ireland as Alidoro.
Opening at the London Coliseum and transferring to Lowry, Salford Quays in October 2025, is a new staging of Benjamin Britten’s comic ensemble opera, Albert Herring , marking the first time ENO has performed this opera.
Making his ENO directorial debut is Antony McDonald. Also making their company debuts are conductor Daniel Cohen and Caspar Singh who is leading the cast in the title role. He will be joined by Emma Bell as Lady Billows, Mark Le Brocq as Mr Upfold, the Mayor, and Sir Willard White as Superintendent Budd. The full cast and creative team will transfer with the production from the London Coliseum to Lowry.
Directing this UK premiere of Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone is Kip Williams, making both his ENO and UK opera debut. Marg Horwell joins as the Designer of Angel’s Bone. They reunite after working together on The Picture of Dorian Gray (2024), for which Horwell received an Olivier Award for Best Costume Designer. The ENO in collaboration with Factory International and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra work will be presented at Aviva Studios, Manchester in May 2026.
Revival productions of ENO’s celebrated classics:
Revivals returning to the London Coliseum in October 2025 include Calixto Bieito’s Carmen, directed by Jamie Manton with Haruka Kuroda. Conducting is Clelia Cafiero and former ENO Mackerras Conducting Fellow, Olivia Clarke.
Making her role debut as Carmen is Niamh O’Sullivan. Joining her will be former Harewood Artist and rising star John Findon as Don José, Cory McGee makes his UK and role debut as Escamillo, and Harewood Artist Ava Dodd as Micaela. The Children’s Chorus will be cast through an ENO Engage school partnership with London West Music Hub.
Christopher Alden’s production of Handel’s Partenope returns for its second revival in November 2025. It is presented with the original partnership of Christopher Alden and Christian Curnyn resuming their roles as Director and Conductor respectively.
Leading the cast in the title role of Partenope is former Harewood Artist Nardus Williams. She will be joined by Hugh Cutting making his ENO debut as Arsace, Ru Charlesworth as Emilio, and Jake Ingbar as Armindo, the suitors competing for the Queen’s hand.
Cal McCrystal returns for the revival of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic masterpiece HMS Pinafore in December 2025 and January 2026. Conducting is Matthew Kofi Waldren, former ENO Mackerras Conducting Fellow.
Neal Davies performs the role of Sir Joseph, the pompous head of the navy, and joining him is John Savournin, acclaimed Gilbert and Sullivan performer, reprising his role as Captain Corcoran. Performing as Ralph Rackstraw and Josephine is Thomas Atkins and newly appointed Harewood Artist Henna Mun. This production sees the return of ENO’s hugely successful Relaxed Performance offering; a performance curated for those who benefit from a more informal environment at the theatre.
A revival of Mozart’s romantic comedy Così fan tutte returns in February 2026, directed by Phelim McDermott with Dinis Sousa conducting.
The cast is comprised of Samantha Clarke and Bethany Horak-Hallett as Fiordiligi and Dorabella, and Joshua Blue and Darwin Prakash as Ferrando and Guglielmo. They will be joined by Andrew Foster-Williams as the philosopher Don Alfonso. Ailish Tynan performs the role of Despina.
The cast from the London Coliseum production reprise their roles in a new semi-staged concert of Così fan tutte , alongside the Chorus and Orchestra of ENO, at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester in February 2026. Directing is Ruth Knight and on the podium is internationally renowned conductor, Alexander Joel.
Broadcast and Events:
A newly created concert of Mozart’s Women: A Musical Journey , directed by Annilese Miskimmon, will be presented at the London Coliseum in September 2025. Created in partnership with ENO, the television concert will be produced by Factory Films for Sky Arts to be broadcast later this year.
Hosted by TV and radio presenter Lauren Laverne and accompanied by the Orchestra of ENO, the concert will tell the story of one of the world’s greatest composers and his relationships with the women who influenced his life and inspired his music.
ENO will be partnering with BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Singers for Dmitri Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the BBC Proms in September 2025. Presented as a semi-staged concert at the Royal Albert Hall, it will be conducted by John Storgårds, Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
The performance includes the full Chorus of ENO performing alongside the BBC Singers, and the Brass section of the Orchestra of ENO. This concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and on BBC Sounds and will be performed in English.
At The Bridgewater Hall, the concert Opera Favourites , performed in collaboration with the Chorus of ENO and the Hallé Orchestra, will showcase some of opera’s greatest hits at the award-winning festival, Manchester Classical in June 2025.
This performance marks the Chorus of ENO’s debut in Greater Manchester and will feature ENO Harewood Artists, Madeline Boreham and Zwakele Tshabalala. The Finale concert concludes the festival with the Chorus of ENO joining Manchester’s leading ensembles. Both concerts are conducted by Alpesh Chauhan.
www.eno.org/whats-on
