Mission Statement
Waterperry Opera Festival is a unique and innovative opera festival hosted at the beautiful Waterperry House & Gardens in Oxfordshire. The festival offers high-quality, accessible and socially relevant work, created and performed by a diverse company, which bridges the gap between artists and audiences.
We aim to:
We aim to:
- Make our work accessible and inclusive – by developing new diverse audiences for opera, producing work in English, where possible, and offering affordable tickets to our audiences.
- Create socially relevant work – by making it meaningful to today’s audiences through an exploration of contemporary social issues and timeless themes that touch the very nature of the human condition.
- Bridge the gap between artists and audiences – by offering innovative, immersive and site-responsive work, pushing the boundaries of the operatic form, and producing talks, masterclasses, and workshops to inform, encourage and inspire.
- Support a diverse community of artists – by offering equal opportunity for all, growing a company from a broad variety of backgrounds, and developing diverse emerging talent on our Young Artist Programme.
Value Statement
- Collaboration - We foster a real sense of teamwork and inclusion within the organisation; supporting one another to achieve our collective vision.
- Integrity - We aim to deliver on our promises and be open, respectful and honest in all we do.
- Imagination - We are imaginative in our approach to everything we do, and seek to make artistic work of the highest quality through creativity, innovation and curiosity.
- Communication - We value clear, transparent and sincere communication across our company to create an inclusive working environment and encourage our audience to share in our vision, where everyone’s voice is respected.
- Growth - We strive to grow as an organisation in all that we do and encourage feedback from our artists and audiences, to drive continuous improvement.
Our Story
Founded in 2017, Waterperry Opera Festival was developed to create innovative productions and engaging participatory events at the beautiful Waterperry House & Gardens.
Our inaugural festival launched in 2018, with a 3-day season of opera including Don Giovanni and our sell-out critically acclaimed production of Mansfield Park, among others. Building on that success, 2019 saw over 1,850 attendees and a number of sold-out performances across the 4-day festival. Among a varied programme were two large-scale amphitheatre shows of The Magic Flute and The Fairy Queen. In August 2020 our innovative spirit prevailed, hosting a mini-festival of opera with sold-out productions of Cosi fan tutte and Jonathan Dove's Ariel. A film of Ariel was also made, and subsequently streamed for free into homes worldwide. 2021 was our largest and most ambitious to date, with over 2,800 attendees joining us for productions of The Elixir of Love, a BSL integrated and immersive production of Hansel & Gretel, and a delightful Peter and the Wolf, among other productions.
In 4 years, we have produced 18 productions for over 6,500 attendees. We have toured across the country to Opera Holland Park, Newbury Spring Festival and Lichfield Festival. 2022 sees our most ambitious year yet, with a festival packed full of operas, and a national tour of Mansfield Park, all to celebrate our 5th anniversary.
Our inaugural festival launched in 2018, with a 3-day season of opera including Don Giovanni and our sell-out critically acclaimed production of Mansfield Park, among others. Building on that success, 2019 saw over 1,850 attendees and a number of sold-out performances across the 4-day festival. Among a varied programme were two large-scale amphitheatre shows of The Magic Flute and The Fairy Queen. In August 2020 our innovative spirit prevailed, hosting a mini-festival of opera with sold-out productions of Cosi fan tutte and Jonathan Dove's Ariel. A film of Ariel was also made, and subsequently streamed for free into homes worldwide. 2021 was our largest and most ambitious to date, with over 2,800 attendees joining us for productions of The Elixir of Love, a BSL integrated and immersive production of Hansel & Gretel, and a delightful Peter and the Wolf, among other productions.
In 4 years, we have produced 18 productions for over 6,500 attendees. We have toured across the country to Opera Holland Park, Newbury Spring Festival and Lichfield Festival. 2022 sees our most ambitious year yet, with a festival packed full of operas, and a national tour of Mansfield Park, all to celebrate our 5th anniversary.