Leeds New Opera Festival 2026
5th & 7th November
Leeds New Opera Festival runs across the 5th and 7th November 2026 - keep scrolling for full details of our exciting programme and how you can join us.
Location
The festival is kindly hosted by Leeds School of Arts, part of Leeds Beckett University, which is located at: Leeds School of Arts, Portland Way, Leeds, LS1 3BP.
what3words: ///snack.elbow.lance
How to attend
We make opera for everyone, and we want to make sure that no one is prevented from seeing our work because they can’t afford the cost of a ticket.
Where events are not free, our simple pricing structure – starting at just £10 – allows everyone to select the price that feels right for them and help us share the joy (and cost) of opera-making today.
Tickets for all events can be booked via the links below or through our main Ticketsource page.
Thursday 5 November
7 - 8.30pm, Thu 5 Nov | LSA Theatre
Our Eyes Looking for God
Arriving in Leeds after a sold-out London premiere run, Our Eyes Looking for God is Northern Opera Group's first co-production with the Barbican.
“Our Eyes Looking for God captures the spirit of opera – its fluidity, extremity and larger-than-life gestures” - The Guardian
"a poignant spectacle, explosive, and highly original" - The Rendition
An opera. A ghost story. A love story. Black boy joy and Black boy nightmares. Cousins Adjani and Kamal are driving to a party on Adjani's last night in Toxteth. They laugh, tell stories, clash, dream, and wonder what the future will bring. Two ordinary boys with extraordinary souls, on an ordinary night out that will resonate across history. Our Eyes Looking for God combines the unique talents of writer/director TD Moyo, composer Renell Shaw, librettist April Koyejo-Audiger, movement director Matheus Daniel, musical director Luke Bacchus and designer Amanda Mascarenhas to create a genre-mashing new opera that sings out the story of young lives rooted in British communities today.
Saturday 7 November
2 - 3.30pm, Sat 7 Nov | LSA Theatre
Our Eyes Looking for God
Audio described performance
Arriving in Leeds after a sold-out London premiere run, Our Eyes Looking for God is Northern Opera Group's first co-production with the Barbican.
“Our Eyes Looking for God captures the spirit of opera – its fluidity, extremity and larger-than-life gestures” - The Guardian
"a poignant spectacle, explosive, and highly original" - The Rendition
An opera. A ghost story. A love story. Black boy joy and Black boy nightmares. Cousins Adjani and Kamal are driving to a party on Adjani's last night in Toxteth. They laugh, tell stories, clash, dream, and wonder what the future will bring. Two ordinary boys with extraordinary souls, on an ordinary night out that will resonate across history. Our Eyes Looking for God combines the unique talents of writer/director TD Moyo, composer Renell Shaw, librettist April Koyejo-Audiger, movement director Matheus Daniel, musical director Luke Bacchus and designer Amanda Mascarenhas to create a genre-mashing new opera that sings out the story of young lives rooted in British communities today.
3.45 - 4.45pm, Sat 7 Nov | LSA Performing Arts Studio 1
Theatre Club with Maddy Costa
A post-show discussion with a difference: no one involved in the making of the show is present. Instead, theatre writer, dramaturg and conversation facilitator Maddy Costa hosts an informal conversation where audiences can share questions, dig into responses, and generally chew over what they've seen together. More information on the Theatre Club format: https://maddycosta.blogspot.com/p/theatre-club.html
5.15 - 6.15pm, Sat 7 Nov | LSA Performing Arts Studio 2
Ultramarine (work-in-progress)
When the seductive myth of perfection intertwines with the pursuit of happiness
what is left when perfection proves impossible?
Award-winning soprano April Koyejo-Audiger fuses opera with jazz, spirituals, African folk song, and electronics, in a kaleidoscopic story that unfolds in the dressing rooms over the opening night of an unnamed opera. Through a research-and-development process focused on colourism, ageing, and female voice, April and director Ellen McDougall explore the contradictory reality of standing exposed in front of a thousand onlookers, and feeling completely invisible. In this 60-minute sharing (including live performance of new operatic and theatrical material), April and the team will present fragments of Ultramarine developed in collaboration with community participants from all over Leeds and the surrounding areas. Come and experience this thrilling new work at an early stage of its development, discuss its evolution with the artists making it, and add your voice to the story.
7 - 8.30pm, Sat 7 Nov | LSA Theatre
Our Eyes Looking for God
Audio described performance
Arriving in Leeds after a sold-out London premiere run, Our Eyes Looking for God is Northern Opera Group's first co-production with the Barbican.
“Our Eyes Looking for God captures the spirit of opera – its fluidity, extremity and larger-than-life gestures” - The Guardian
"a poignant spectacle, explosive, and highly original" - The Rendition
An opera. A ghost story. A love story. Black boy joy and Black boy nightmares. Cousins Adjani and Kamal are driving to a party on Adjani's last night in Toxteth. They laugh, tell stories, clash, dream, and wonder what the future will bring. Two ordinary boys with extraordinary souls, on an ordinary night out that will resonate across history. Our Eyes Looking for God combines the unique talents of writer/director TD Moyo, composer Renell Shaw, librettist April Koyejo-Audiger, movement director Matheus Daniel, musical director Luke Bacchus and designer Amanda Mascarenhas to create a genre-mashing new opera that sings out the story of young lives rooted in British communities today.