The Grange Festival has announced its 2027 season, marking ten years since the festival was founded in 2017 and unveiling the first programme curated by newly appointed Artistic Director Brindley Sherratt.
Running from 23 May to 11 July 2027, the anniversary season will feature four opera productions, three concerts and a major dance double bill across 28 performances at The Grange in Hampshire.
The announcement follows the festival’s most successful year to date. During its 2026 season, attendance rose by 13 per cent to 14,630 across 27 performances, with average occupancy reaching 91 per cent. More than a third of tickets were purchased by first-time bookers, while returning audience bookings increased by 27 per cent.
Opera highlights include a new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, directed and designed by Antony McDonald, alongside a revival of Christopher Luscombe’s acclaimed production of Tosca. The season will also feature a semi-staged presentation of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, bringing together Cape Town Opera and Chineke! Orchestra under the baton of Enrique Mazzola.
Completing the operatic programme is The Story of Billy Budd, Sailor, Oliver Leith and Ted Huffman’s acclaimed chamber opera, which arrives at The Grange Festival following its success at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
Concert programming includes the return of Verdi’s Requiem, ten years after it featured in the festival’s inaugural season. Audiences can also enjoy Symphonic Bond, conducted by David Arnold and celebrating more than six decades of James Bond music, alongside Joe Stilgoe’s A Jazz Club Symphony.
The dance offering sees Swiss company Bern Ballett make its UK debut at the festival with a double bill featuring Jiří Pokorný’s Carmen and Unheld.
Artistic Director Brindley Sherratt said: “It is a thrill, and an honour, to share my first Festival as Artistic Director of The Grange Festival, and to do so in our tenth anniversary year. I have known this Festival as an audience member and from the stage, and I want to pay tribute to Michael Chance, whose vision built this precious company over the past decade. His shoes will be difficult to fill, but I’m more than happy to take up the challenge.
“Throughout my career as a performer, my goal has been to create something in the theatre that interrupts the busy humdrum of daily life, something that makes people from all walks of life stop, reflect and feel. That mandate hasn’t changed. The difference is that I now have the marvellous opportunity to gather other artists together to carry it through. So 2027 brings four great operas, including a landmark partnership with Cape Town Opera and Chineke! Orchestra, and the return of Verdi’s Requiem, which we performed at our very first Festival.”
Among the artists announced for the season are Dean Murphy, Mirjam Mesak, Marta Fontanals-Simmons, Federica Vitali, Mykhailo Malafii, Andrei Bondarenko, Dominic Sedgwick, Toby Spence, David Arnold, Laura Tebbutt and Joe Stilgoe.
The Grange Festival 2027 opens for priority booking to Founders and Festival Circle patrons on 20 October 2026, with public booking opening on 9 February 2027.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
