Dorset Opera Festival 21–25 July 2026
This July (21–25), Dorset Opera Festival presents new productions of Camille Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila and Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at Bryanston, Blandford Forum.
Singers of interest- Making his UK stage debut, Korean tenor Won Whi Choi, fresh from the Met, sings the title role of Samson, whilst in Elisir the role of Adina will be sung by Haeran Hong, a First Prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth Singing Competition. Jay Broadhurst will sing Nemorino. A former Dorset Opera summer school singer, Jay was recently praised for stepping in as Macduff at Chelsea Opera to strong critical acclaim.
Key cast & creatives
L’elisir d’amore
Composer- Gaetano Donizetti
Librettist- Felice Romani
Director- Andy Morton
Conductor- Frank Zielhorst
Designer- Rufus Martin
Costume design- Libby Watson
Lighting design- James Smith
Haeran Hong – Adina
Jay Broadhurst – Nemorino
Jonathan Eyers – Belcore
Aidan Smith – Dulcamara
Daisy Lapworth – Gianetta
Samson et Dalila
Composer- Camille Saint-Saëns
Librettist- Ferdinand Lemaire
Director- Paul Carr
Conductor- Jeremy Carnall
Designer- Rufus Martin
Costume design- Libby Watson
Lighting design- Mark Jonathan
Won Whi Choi – Samson (UK stage debut)
Mae Heydorn – Dalila
Alexey Gusev – High Priest of Dagon
Aidan Smith – Spiritual Elder (Old Hebrew)
Anthony Flaum – Philistine Messenger
Sam Weakley – Second Philistine
Jamie Formoy – Messenger
Performance diary
ue 21 July, 7pm – L’elisir d’amore
Wed 22, 7pm – Samson et Dalila
Thu 23, 2pm – L’elisir d’amore (matinée)
Thu 23, 7pm – Samson et Dalila
Fri 24, 7pm – L’elisir d’amore
Sat 25, 2pm – Samson et Dalila (matinée)
Sat 25, 7pm – L’elisir d’amore
Venue – Dorset Opera Festival takes place at Bryanston School near Blandford Forum. Performances are in the Coade Theatre, with formal dining in Bryanston House and picnics on the surrounding lawns.
Ticket prices – From £49 – £110, with subsidised £10 tickets for those under 26 in full-time education at all performances and £40 (less than half price) for those age 40 and under at the Friday performance of L’elisir d’amore.
Dorset Opera – Dorset Opera was founded in 1974 at Sherborne School by Patrick Shelley with a raft of well-known soloists, students from Sherborne and Sherborne Girls forming the Chorus and the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles, attending the first performance. The company has grown considerably since then, whilst always retaining at its core the ethos of its Opera Summer School. Since 2005 Artistic Director Roderick Kennedy has led the company, having retired from a prestigious singing career.
Dorset Opera Festival Chorus – Dorset Opera’s ethos is to provide opportunity to young, aspiring opera singers, enabling them to train and work alongside established soloists, musicians and creative teams. Whilst many of the principal singers are internationally renowned, the Dorset Opera Festival chorus is made up of summer school students who join us from all over the world. They train for two weeks under chorus director Stephen Harris (ENO, WNO, Opera North, LSO, Nationale Reisopera).
The Dorset Opera Summer School – Dorset Opera provides training and experience in all aspects of operatic stagecraft under a fully professional production team, culminating in fully staged performances accompanied by a full professional orchestra. As well as emerging singers who form the chorus, we also welcome four interns from Dorset’s Arts University Bournemouth who are given the opportunity of working with our professional wardrobe team, counting towards their course finals. We also welcome a handful of students from the music colleges who play side-by-side according to their instrument with members of the Dorset Opera Orchestra.
Further information and for tickets click here