Nevill Holt Opera

Nevill Holt Festival, previously known as Nevill Holt Opera is an arts festival at the end of June and beginning of July that is held at The Nevill Holt Estate in Leicestershire, the home of Carphone Warehouse co-founder David Ross.

Nevill Holt Hall

History

Nevill Holt Opera launched its first independent season in 2013 with a staging of The Magic Flute. The venue previously hosted Grange Park Opera.^[1]

The annual event features a headline opera production as well as an open-air exhibition of contemporary British sculpture featuring artists such as Marc Quinn, Allen Jones and Peter Randall-Page.^[2]

The opera company aims to celebrate young British talent and tries to cast young singers, offering them a chance to launch their career.^[3][4]

A new 400-seat opera house in the stable block by architects Witherford Watson Mann opened in June 2018.^[5] In July 2019, the new opera house made the shortlist for the Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture.^[6]

The 2021 festival was held in the open air. The two operas performed were La Traviata and Don Giovanni.^[7]

In 2025, the Nevill Holt Festival developed into a larger opera, arts and culture with notable performances and talks from a range of acts including Trinny Woodall, Richard E Grant, Boris Johnson, Sir Paul Smith. In 2025, the centrepiece opera was a collaboration between Nevill Holt and Opera North, performing Mozart's Così fan tutte.

Education

Nevill Holt Opera operates an education programme in partnership with music, design and drama teachers. It has worked with over 600 children in the local area, providing workshops and opportunities for children to see the dress rehearsals of the opera productions. Children of the Malcolm Arnold Academy in Northamptonshire were involved in helping to design the logo of the opera festival.^[8]

The education programme is financed by the David Ross Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation and UBS Bank.^[9]

Past productions

• 2013 The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Directed by Oliver Mears
• 2014 La bohème by Giacomo Puccini – Directed by Ashley Page^[10]
• 2015 Carmen by Georges Bizet – Directed by Ashley Page^[11][12]
• 2016 Rigoletto and L'elisir d'amore
• 2017 Noye's Fludde and Tosca
• 2018 Le Nozze di Figaro^[13][14] and Powder Her Face^[15]
• 2019 A Midsummer Night's Dream and Così fan tutte
• 2021 La traviata and Don Giovanni
• 2022 La bohème and The Barber of Seville
• 2023 Pagliacci, Gianni Schicchi and La Cenerentola^[16]