Peter Hugh & Clare Heath’s ‘Rosalind’ to World Premiere at College Chapel of King’s College London
By David Salazar“Rosalind,” a new chamber opera about scientist Rosalind Franklin, will receive its world premiere on April 21, 2026 at the College Chapel of King’s College London.
The work by composer Peter Hugh and librettist Clare Heath will be directed by James Hurley, conducted by Mark Austin, and produced by Helix Music. The opera is framed by the eve of the 1962 Nobel Prize ceremony, from which Franklin was absent, having died four years earlier, and moves between the laboratories of King’s College London and the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge.
The College Chapel of King’s College London is adjacent to the site where Franklin conducted the research that proved pivotal to the discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure.
The cast features soprano as Rosalind Franklin, alongside two baritones as James Watson and Maurice Wilkins, two tenors as Francis Crick and Raymond Gosling, two bass-baritones as Max Perutz and Sir Lawrence Bragg, and a mezzo-soprano as Alice, Lady Bragg. The London Mozart Players perform the orchestral score, with an SATB chorus rounding out the forces.
“Rosalind” is the inaugural production from Helix Music, a volunteer-run charity dedicated to developing and presenting new work. A follow-up sister production by the Cambridge University Operatic Society is also planned.
Read Related Stories
Categories
IndieOpera
