Regents Opera September 2026 Newsletter
WAR REQUIEM - next Sunday in Croydon!
Chorus rehearsal yesterday in full swing
Dear All,
Many greetings from London, where yesterday we had a magnificent final chorus-only rehearsal for our War Requiem concert next week at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon.
It’s been both challenging and hugely uplifting to get to know, and work on this, one of the most important pieces of choral music of the 20th-century, and this week we have the excitement of adding the orchestra and soloists, and then bringing it to you on Sunday. I do hope many of you who have not yet done so are thinking about buying your tickets very soon. It is quite a big hall, and the performance will indeed be quite large!
Andrew Tortise
Tenor
Felix Kemp
Baritone
Philippa Boyle
Soprano
I am, as you can probably tell, really quite excited about conducting this piece, and bringing it to you all, so please do come along. It’s a 7.30pm start, and is about 90 minutes long. It is beautiful and also challenging, and has moments of great calm and stillness, and some moments of ferocious excitement.
And then, on 1st November, ELEKTRA!
No sooner will the final chords of the War Requiem have died down, then we begin our rehearsals for Elektra, at Blackheath Halls, in collaboration with New Palace Opera. Catharine Woodward, fresh from her Isolde success at Longborough, sings the title, and I will be shaking a stick once again. A gentle, subtle piece…
Parsifal news!
We’ve been having some great conversations with Sir David and his designer Robert Innis Hopkins, and we’re very much hoping to have tickets on sale to Donors, Patrons and Friends in early November. I am hoping to have the full cast assembled and will be able to tell you about them then as well.
If you would like to become a Friend or a Patron, please click here!
Here’s wishing you a noisy autumn with us!
Ben
With grateful thanks to Big Yellow Storage in Fulham for looking after our stuff!
