Bard Summerscape has announced its 20th anniversary season.

For the purposes of this article, our focus will be solely on vocal performances.

The centerpiece of the program will be a new production of Saint-Saëns’ “Henri VIII.” Leon Botstein conducts a cast starring Alfred Walker in the title role, Amanda Woodbury as Catherine of Aragon, and Lindsay Ammann as Anne Boleyn. The opera will be directed by Jean-Romain Vesperini with projections by Thomas Ocampo and costumes by Alain Blanchot.

Performance Dates: July 21 – 30, 2023

At the core of the program will be an exploration of music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The first program will feature songs and hymns as well as chamber music and his Concert in D minor, among other works.

Performance Date: August 4, 2023

There will be a program exploring London and Berlin that includes music by Bruch, Ethel Smyth, Frank Bridge, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Stanford, Parry, and Ralph Vaugh Williams.

Performance Date: August 5, 2023

“Heirs and Rebels” will feature British art songs by such composers as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Roger Quilter, Benjamin Britten, John Ireland, George Butterworth, Liza Lehmann, Frank Bridge, and Ivor Gurney, among amny others.

Performance Date: August 6, 2023

Audiences will get a chance to hear passages from Vaughan Williams’ “The Poisoned Kiss” as well as music by Ivor Novello, Arthur Sullivan, Grainger, Arthur Benjamin, and Eric Coates, among others.

Performance Date: August 6, 2023

“The Lark Ascending” will headline a program also featuring music by Parry, Holst, Delius, Warlock, and Grace Williams, among others.

Performance Date: August 11, 2023

In “The Islands and the Continent,” Edmund Rubbra’s “Ave Maria Gratia Plena” will be featured in a program alongside music by Vaughan Williams, Bax, Müller-Hartmann, Bartók, Wellesz, and Jacob.

Performance Date: August 12, 2023

The series ends with a performance of Vaughan Williams’ “Sir John in Love.”

Performance Date: August 13, 2023