News

July 2026:

This year’s Leeds New Opera Festival will take place at Leeds School of Art from the 5 - 7th November 2026.

This year’s festival will take place on 5th – 7th November 2026, as part of our continued partnership with Leeds School of Art. We're thrilled to present the Leeds premiere of a brand-new opera, Our Eyes Looking for God by Renell Shaw, TD. Moyo and April Koyejo-Audiger, a co-production with the Barbican . We’ll also be showing two new works-in-progress, alongside a variety of workshops and gatherings; throwing open the door to anyone who wants to find out more about how our work is made, and what’s coming up next. Leading up to the festival, there will be a programme of workshops and creative projects for communities all over Leeds, all free to access.

We'll be in touch with full details of the festival programme in August, and you can read more about Our Eyes Looking for God on the Barbican’s website via the link below – in the meantime, save these dates! 5th – 7th November 2026.

Open workshop! The Portal, Weds 15th July 5.30 - 8.30pm

If November feels too far away for your next NOG fix, don’t worry! We’re running a workshop called The Portal on Wednesday 15th July and you’re all invited.

The Portal is an arts and architecture project run by NOG with researchers from the University of Manchester, which asks communities across the north of England to dream-design an opera house for their local area.

What should an opera house look like? How should it behave? Come for an evening of music and model-making, and tell us what you think.