Peter Sellars returns to English National Opera following his critically-acclaimed production of John Adams’s The Gospel According To The Other Mary to direct Purcell’s The Indian Queen.

A co-production with Perm State Opera and Teatro Real, Madrid, The Indian Queen has opened to great critical acclaim with audiences in Russia and Spain, “…one of the best theatrical operas in recent years” (El Pais). Sellars takes Purcell’s rich score and incorporates some of the composer’s most ravishing sacred and secular pieces, adding vibrant set designs from Chicano graffiti artist Gronk and choreography by Christopher Williams.

Woven throughout the production is spoken text taken from Rosario Aguilar’s novel The Lost Chronicles of Terra Firma, which recounts the initial confrontation between Europeans and the Mayans of the New World through a personal account from a female perspective. The result is a spectacle of music, theatre, dance, literature and visual art.

The Other Mary and The Indian Queen have a shared theme of retelling history recorded by men through the eyes of women – bringing out the humanity of the work and giving a voice to individuals who, over time, have been erased from history.

Opera and theatre director and winner of 2014 Polar Music Prize (often called the ‘Nobel Prize for Music’), Peter Sellars is one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the performing arts in the world. A visionary artist, Sellars is known for engaging with social and political issues through art. Sellars is Professor of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), where he teaches Art as Social Action and Art as Moral Action. The Indian Queen marks the culmination of Peter Sellars’ five-month residency at ENO.

The Indian Queen opens at the London Coliseum on 26 February 2015 for 8 performances – 26 February, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12 March at 7.00pm, 28 February at 6.00pm and 14 March at 3.00pm

Pre-performance talk: Monday 2 March, 5-5.45pm, £5/£2.50 concs.

Opening Saturday 11^th April 2015, 7.30pm at the Barbican (8 performances)

Critically acclaimed opera and theatre director Deborah Warner directs the world premiere of British composer Tansy Davies’s highly anticipated first opera. With a libretto by Nick Drake and conducted by contemporary music specialist Gerry Cornelius, Between Worldsforms part of a series of major British operas premiered by ENO, the next world premiere being February 2017.

Between Worlds is a sensitive, spiritual and uplifting journey inspired by the events of 9/11, addressing one of the most significant events of the twenty-first century and bringing the universal operatic themes of tragedy, loss, courage, healing and love into a contemporary context.

The opera focuses on the relationships and emotions of the people at the very centre of the tragedy. It tells the story of six individuals whose days start normally but end in the most devastating of circumstances. Trapped high up in the World Trade Center, they are forced to face the inconceivable possibility that they may never see their loved ones again. Nick Drake’s libretto has been partially inspired by first-hand accounts and messages sent on the day of the tragedy and released by WikiLeaks in 2009.

ENO has had significant success staging new operas written by living British composers. In May 2014 Pierre Audi directed the world premiere of Julian Anderson’s first opera, Thebans,at the London Coliseum. Joanna Lee’s first opera, The Way Back Home, received its world premiere in an ENO co-production with the Young Vic in December 2014, directed by Katie Mitchell.

Deborah Warner returns to ENO and the Barbican following her recent five star productions of Death in Venice (London Coliseum) andThe Testament of Mary, starring Fiona Shaw (Barbican Theatre).Her ‘electrifying’ (Bachtrack) new production of Beethoven’s Fideliorecently opened the 2014/15 La Scala season to great acclaim.

Composer Tansy Davies’s distinctive sound-world has been described as possessing a ‘rare power to remind listeners of their own inner freedom’ (Guardian). Her work has been commissioned and performed by many significant international ensembles and orchestras, including the London Sinfonietta, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She received a Paul Hamlyn Award in 2009 and was nominated for a South Bank Sky Arts Award in 2010.

Opens Saturday 9 May at 7.30pm at London Coliseum (14 performances)

Broadcast live in cinemas across UK and Ireland, and selected cinemas worldwide, as part of ENO Screen on Tuesday 19 May at 7.30pm

Acclaimed film and theatre director and Gilbert and Sullivan aficionado Mike Leigh makes his operatic directorial debut at ENO with a new production of The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan’s popular farcical comedy. Featuring swashbuckling pirates, flat footed policemen, razor-sharp satire and memorable melodies, this sparkling new production promises to be the theatrical and musical event of 2015.

ENO’s international reputation for working with exciting directors from across a wide range of artistic disciplines has offered a fresh perspective and unique approach to our productions. Film and theatre director Mike Leigh is the latest artistic talent to apply his skills to the world of opera. Previous directors ENO has worked with include Terry Gilliam, Anthony Minghella, Benedict Andrews, Rufus Norris, Carrie Cracknell and Fiona Shaw.

ENO has a long history of performing Gilbert & Sullivan with Iolanthe, The Gondoliers, Patience, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado having all been part of the Company repertoire. ENO’s “bright and sharp” (The Guardian) production of The Mikado has become a true audience favourite having been revived 13 times in 28 years.

Leigh is a lifelong fan of the quintessentially English musical duo. He wrote and directed the 1999 BAFTA winning film Topsy Turvy(starring Jim Broadbent as W.S. Gilbert and Allan Corduner as Sullivan) which explored their turbulent relationship leading up to the premiere of The Mikado. He is President of both the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society and the W.S. Gilbert Society and has contributed to The Cambridge Companion to Gilbert and Sullivan. Fresh from success with the film Mr Turner, starring Timothy Spall as the artist J.M.W.Turner, Leigh has had a long and successful career which began in the theatre in the 1960’s as both a playwright and director. His plays include Bleak Moments, Abigail’s Party, Ecstasy, and most recently, Grief at the National Theatre.

Olivier award-winning designer Alison Chitty has previously collaborated with Mike Leigh on Life is Sweet, Naked and Secrets and Lies.  She will design the set and costumes. Lighting is by Paul Pyant with choreography by Francesca Jaynes.

British baritone Andrew Shore is renowned for his character roles and is a superb singer and actor. He makes his role debut as Major-General Stanley. He has performed numerous roles for ENO, most recently the twin cameos of Benoit and Alcindoro in La bohème, and will appear as Beckmesser in The Mastersingers of Nuremberg in February 2015.

British tenor Robert Murray takes on the role of Frederic the pirate apprentice. His previous roles for ENO include Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, Tamino in The Magic Flute, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Idamante in Idomeneo.

Opening Thursday 26 February 2015, 7.00pm at London Coliseum (8 performances)

Peter Sellars returns to English National Opera following his critically-acclaimed production of John Adams’s The Gospel According To The Other Mary to direct Purcell’s The Indian Queen.

A co-production with Perm State Opera and Teatro Real, Madrid, The Indian Queen has opened to great critical acclaim with audiences in Russia and Spain, “…one of the best theatrical operas in recent years” (El Pais). Sellars takes Purcell’s rich score and incorporates some of the composer’s most ravishing sacred and secular pieces, adding vibrant set designs from Chicano graffiti artist Gronk and choreography by Christopher Williams.

Woven throughout the production is spoken text taken from Rosario Aguilar’s novel The Lost Chronicles of Terra Firma, which recounts the initial confrontation between Europeans and the Mayans of the New World through a personal account from a female perspective. The result is a spectacle of music, theatre, dance, literature and visual art.

The Other Mary and The Indian Queen have a shared theme of retelling history recorded by men through the eyes of women – bringing out the humanity of the work and giving a voice to individuals who, over time, have been erased from history.

Opera and theatre director and winner of 2014 Polar Music Prize (often called the ‘Nobel Prize for Music’), Peter Sellars is one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the performing arts in the world. A visionary artist, Sellars is known for engaging with social and political issues through art. Sellars is Professor of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), where he teaches Art as Social Action and Art as Moral Action. The Indian Queen marks the culmination of Peter Sellars’ five-month residency at ENO.

Chicano painter, printmaker and performance artist Glugio Nicandro (known as ‘Gronk’) has designed the set for this production. Best known for his murals, Gronk’s abstract and vibrant set design comprises large, colourful panels that take inspiration from ancient Mayan art.

Baroque specialist Laurence Cummings leads an exceptional cast and the ENO chorus to conduct The Indian Queen. Cummings is Artistic Director of London Handel Festival and Internationale Händel-Festpiele Göttingen. Cummings returns to ENO following his production of Radamisto in 2010 of which The Independent on Sunday remarked, “Lawrence Cummings whips the orchestra into a frenzy of dancing semiquavers and sexily-swung French trills”.

Completing the creative team is costume designer Dunya Ramicova and lighting designer James F. Ingalls.

Young American soprano Julia Bullock makes her ENO debut taking the role of Teculihuatzin, a role she sang at Teatro Real, Madrid in 2013 to great critical acclaim – “The star of this Indian Queen was American soprano Julia Bullock” (Opera News). Winner of the 2014 Naumburg International Vocal Competition, Bullock is currently in her final year of the artist diploma programme at The Juilliard School, New York.

Taking the role of Don Pedro de Alvardo, the Spaniard who falls in love with and eventually rejects Teculihuatzin, is American tenor Noah Stewart. Bachtrack said of Stewart and Bullock’s partnership in the original 2013 Madrid production, “a [performance]…that bursts with chemistry, sensuality and sexuality.”

Stewart is the first black artist to reach Number 1 in the UK Classical Music Charts (a position he reached with his 2012 debut solo album Noah). This role marks Stewart’s ENO debut. During April 2015, Stewart will embark on a seven date UK solo concert tour.

Leading British soprano Lucy Crowe sings the role of Doña Isabel. Crowe last appeared at ENO in the 2013 revival of The Barber of Seville, where she sang the role of Rosina in a performance described as “glorious” by The Observer.

Making his ENO debut, South Korean countertenor Vince Yi takes the role of Hunahpú. A former participant of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Programme, Yi has sung the roles of Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo and the lead in Handel’s Giulio Cesare as part of his time at San Francisco Opera.

American countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo plays the part of Ixbalanqué. Costanzo has recently sung the role of Prince Orlofsky inDie Fledermaus at The Metropolitan Opera, New York and made his European debut playing the role of Eustazio in Glyndebourne’s production of Rinaldo.

Completing the cast is British tenor Thomas Walker, playing the role of Don Pedrarias Dávila, and South African baritone Luthando Qave, playing the role of Sacerdote Maya.

The Indian Queen opens at the London Coliseum on 26 February 2015 for 8 performances – 26 February, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12 March at 7.00pm, 28 February at 6.00pm and 14 March at 3.00pm

Pre-performance talk: Monday 2 March, 5-5.45pm, £5/£2.50 concs

Opening Saturday 7^th February 2015, 3pm at the London Coliseum (8 performances)

ENO Music Director Edward Gardner will lead the “world-class” ENO Orchestra and Chorus (WhatsOnStage) alongside an outstanding cast in Wagner’s comic masterpiece The Mastersingers of Nuremberg. Known for championing British and British trained talent, ENO will field a predominantly British cast led by one of ENO’s major discoveries of recent years, Iain Paterson, making his role debut as Hans Sachs.

Originally created for Welsh National Opera in 2010, Richard Jones’s spectacular staging of Mastersingers comes to London for the first time. Jones provides a “clear and brilliant” (The Arts Desk) retelling of Wagner’s drama about the 16^th-century guild of amateur poets and musicians called The Mastersingers. The tensions between creativity and conformity are played out in a society obsessed with rules and regulations.

This production originated at Welsh National Opera where Richard Jones’s “questingly intelligent staging” (Daily Telegraph) was enthusiastically received. The Mastersingers of Nuremberg forms part of a series of works that Richard Jones will direct as part of an ongoing collaboration with ENO. His recent productions for the company include Rodelinda and The Girl of the Golden West, both of which received an outstanding critical and audience response. Richard Jones has been made a CBE for Services to Music in the recent New Year Honours List.

Leading Wagnerian bass-baritone and former ENO Company Principal Iain Paterson will sing his first Hans Sachs. This will be his second Wagnerian role debut this season, following on from his “impassioned and magnificent” (WhatsOnStage) success as Kurwenal in Christof Loy’s production of Tristan und Isolde at the Royal Opera House.

Brilliant singing-actor Andrew Shore, whose ENO triumphs range from Donizetti to Britten, makes his stage role debut as Beckmesser. He was most recently seen at ENO in the twin cameos of Benoit and Alcindoro for La bohème, and will return to the London Coliseum in May as Major-General Stanley in Mike Leigh’s new production of The Pirates of Penzance.

British soprano Rachel Nicholls, an exceptional and experienced Wagnerian, sings the role of Eva. She sang her first Brünnhilde inGötterdämmerung for the 2012 Longborough Festival, returning for three complete Ring Cycles in 2013, and was described by The Guardian as “The most impressive British Brünnhilde for years”. Her performances as Senta in Scottish Opera’s 2013 production of The Flying Dutchman were described as “powerful” (The Times) and “spellbinding” (The Scotsman).

Welsh tenor and ENO favourite Gwyn Hughes Jones, who “just gets better and better with every appearance” (theartsdesk.com) will sing the role of Walter.

American bass James Creswell, an “impressive” Sarastro (The Stage) in Simon McBurney’s ENO production of The Magic Flute will sing the role of Pogner. He will be joined by ENO Harewood Artist Nicky Spence as David and former ENO Young Singer Madeleine Shaw as Magdalene. Completing the cast is baritone David Stout as Kothner. He recently performed at the London Coliseum in the title role of Fiona Shaw’s The Marriage of Figaro.

2014/15 will be Edward Gardner’s final season as ENO Music Director. Described as a “natural and exciting Wagnerian” by The Guardian, Gardner was nominated for an Olivier Award for his 2012 performances of The Flying Dutchman. His performances of Otelloopened the ENO 2014/15 season in September, with the Daily Telegraph writing that “Edward Gardner’s conducting of his splendid orchestra was incandescent in its magnificence”. Gardner will return in June to conduct his final production as Music Director, The Queen of Spades.

The creative team is completed by set designer Paul Steinberg, costume designer Buki Shiff, lighting designer Mimi Jordan Sherin and choreographer Lucy Burge.

The Mastersingers of Nuremberg opens at the London Coliseum on Saturday 7^th February for 8 performances – Feb 7, 14, 21 & Mar 7 at 3pm, Feb 18, 25 & Mar 3, 10 at 5pm

The Mastersingers of Nuremberg (7^th February – 10^th March 2015)

ENO Music Director Edward Gardner will lead the outstanding ENO Chorus and Orchestra alongside an exceptional cast in these performances of Wagner’s epic masterpiece.

In a spectacular staging by director Richard Jones, Wagner’s only comic opera explores the tension between artistic creativity and conformity as it is played out in a society obsessed by rules and regulations.

From the ever-popular overture’s magisterial opening bars, Wagner’s score is full of glorious melodies and stirring choruses, revealing the composer at the height of his musical and dramatic powers.

The Mastersingers of Nuremberg opens on the 7^th February for 8 performances. Tickets are available at eno.org / 020 7845 9300

The Indian Queen (26^th February – 14^th March 2015)

ENO’s director in residence Peter Sellars presents a newly contextualised version of Purcell’s The Indian Queen, which describes the first contact between Europeans and the Mayans of the New World from the perspective of the women who forged a new society.

Sellars takes Purcell’s glorious but incomplete score and incorporates some of the composer’s most ravishing sacred and secular pieces, adding vibrant set designs from graffiti artist Gronk and a text based on Nicaraguan author Rosario Aguilar’s novel The Lost Chronicles of Terra Firma.

The result is an astonishing spectacle of music, theatre, dance, literature and visual art that promises both an exceptional musical and theatrical experience.

The Indian Queen opens on the 26^th February for 8 performances. Tickets are available at eno.org / 020 7845 9300

Between Worlds (11^th April – 25^th April 2015)

This groundbreaking world premiere, performed at the Barbican, is a sensitive, spiritual and uplifting journey inspired by the events of 9/11. The highly anticipated first opera from British composer Tansy Davies, Between Worlds will be directed by critically acclaimed opera and theatre director Deborah Warner,

A disparate group of individuals is trapped high up in one of the Twin Towers, caught between earth and heaven, between life and death.Between Worlds will provide a unique insight to the tragedy and the human experiences of those affected by it.

Between Worlds opens at the Barbican on the 11^th April for 8 performances. Tickets are available at eno.org / 020 7845 9300

The Pirates of Penzance (9^th May – 27^th June 2015)

Fresh from the major success of his celebrated film Mr Turner, film-making legend Mike Leigh will make his opera directing debut with this eagerly anticipated new production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s sparkling comic masterpiece.

In a hilarious production where comedy and romance combine with surprising twists and turns, The Pirates of Penzance leads us into a swashbuckling world of orphaned pirates, flat-footed policemen and beautiful women.

The Pirates of Penzance opens on the 9^th May for 14 performances. Broadcast as part of ENO Screen on 19^th May. Tickets are available at eno.org / 020 7845 9300