Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival announced the full lineup of performances for 2023. The festival runs from Aug. 29-Sept. 12.

Here’s what the 2023 Opera Festival will offer audiences.

Laura Reid presents a song cycle of hope using recorded sounds, voices, and instruments. Inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Hope is a thing with Feathers,” contemporary writers Ahed Al Hamwi, Katie Colombus, Oge Nwosu, Teresa Howard contributed to the lyrics. The music is experienced through an audio walk with mobile phones and headphones, guided by Reid. The performance features soprano Gweneth Ann Rand and pianist Allyson Devenish.

Performance Date: Aug. 29, 2023

“ARTHUR” by composer/director/co-writer Hans Vercauteren and librettist Charles Sobry focuses on the final hours of King Arthur’s life, with Merlyn visiting the aged king in his tent before his final, fatal battle. The work explores the humanity of a once powerful ruler reliving childhood lessons. The cast features Charles Sobry as Arthur, Bartel Jespers as Merlyn, Rosalind Dobson as the Lady of the Lake, and Maja Horvat on the violin as a musical Guinevere.

Performance Date: Aug. 29, 2023

There will be a panel discussion, “Queer Connections,” during which the festival’s queer artists will introduce their shows ahead of their performances.

Performance Date: Aug. 29, 2023, Online

Composer Alice Beckwith’s “The Golden Thread” is a contemporary cantata for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble. Inspired by Angela Carter’s retelling of the Goethe myth, the piece portrays a young woman’s encounter with the Green Man and the sinister Erlking. It is part of a double bill with “Medusa.” Mezzo-soprano Phoebe Haines stars. Beckwith directs.

Performance Date: Aug. 30, 2023

“Medusa,” by Ricardo Dourado, explores the aftermath of emotional abuse and trauma. The main character, Medusa, deals with childhood abandonment and trust issues.

Performance Date: Aug. 30, 2023

Composer Igor Escudero’s opera commemorates Kafka’s centenary with a contemporary adaptation of  “The Metamorphosis.” The music blends early twentieth-century styles with modern techniques while rooted in romanticism.

Performance Date: Aug. 30, 2023

“The hedge the world and everything” is a time-based installation folk opera with an otherworldly soundscape. The project brings to life a Cornish hedge through singing, highlighting the contrast between the organic beauty of nature and the mechanized world. The vocal ensemble Wild The Flower brings alive the rich and ancient world of the hedge. The piece is accompanied by a film and features compositions by Jo Ballard, Jane Spurr, Jon Tye, and Colin Seddon. Created by Jane Spurr and Jo Ballard. Vocalists include tenor William Wallace, soprano Paula Mendoza. Íñigo Santacana directs and Krzysztof Stipulkovski conducts/accompanies.

Performance Date: Aug. 31, 2023

Set in Ancient Greece, “The Last Siren” tells of two sirens enticing passing sailors with their enchanting songs. When one of them discovers love, a singing contest takes a serious turn. The cast includes mezzo-soprano Arlene Belli as Dimitra and soprano Louise Fuller as Belinda. Edward Lambert composed, with words by Norman Welch. The work is directed by Jenny Weston.

Performance Date: Aug. 31, 2023

“Judith” is a one-woman show, work in progress project inspired by Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeards’ Castle.” It explores the theme of opera as a ceremony and healing process, drawing from the healing aspects of ancient Greek theatre.  Music by Béla Bartók, Jakob Huuge, Arvo Pärt, with words by Béla Balázs, Neale Donald Walsch, Joseph S. Benner.

Performance Date: Sept. 1, 2023

“PLASTIC BODIES,” created and performed by Rosie Middleton and Sarah Parkin, is a multimedia exploration of the seedy underbelly of opera. It sheds light on how the industry objectifies and sexualizes female bodies on stage, using voice, film, movement, and verbatim text. The music, composed by Amy Bryce and Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser (who also performs), accompanies the exploration of intimacy, ‘femininity,’ and power.

Performance Date: Sept. 2, 2023

“Fierce Love” is an opera that vividly portrays the nightlife, AIDS activism, and queer love of 1990s London. The story revolves around the love between a journalist and a party boy, set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic and the fight against governmental injustice over HIV/AIDS support. The music is composed by Warboy & Stewart. The cast includes: Kim Tatum, Adam Perchard.

Performance Date: Sept. 2, 2023

“Bermondsey, 1983” is a multimedia verbatim opera that delves into the personal and political impact of Peter Tatchell’s 1983 Labour candidacy for the Bermondsey seat. The campaign was marked by bitter attacks on Tatchell’s gay rights advocacy and left-wing politics. Music by Robert Reid Allan and words by Gareth Mattey bring to life the experiences of those involved.

Performance Date: Sept. 3, 2023

“1944: Home Fires” is an almost-true story that explores the lives of Ivor Novello, a famous composer and matinee idol, and “Mad” Frankie Fraser, a notorious figure in South London gangland. Set in 1944, the story unfolds as Novello is imprisoned and shares a cell with Fraser. The work was composed by Robert Ely with words by Peter Scott-Presland.

Performance Date: Sept. 3, 2023

“Songs of Descent” is a monodrama composed by Phoenix Rousiamanis, a trans composer. This production reimagines the myth of Persephone’s descent as an allegory for psychological descent and queer experience.  The featured vocalist is Rowan Lark, and the conductor, Rory Storm.

Performance Date: Sept. 5, 2023

Composer Madeleine Dring’s (1923-1977) “Cupboard Love” will have its first-ever London staging. Written in the 50s, this comedic murder ‘whodunit’ remained unpublished until 2017. The work features three characters: the Wife, played by Sarah Dacey; the Boyfriend, portrayed by Oskar McCarthy; and the Husband, played by Sam Oladeinde. Belinda Jones provides the piano accompaniment. Directed by Sam Redway, the libretto is by Daniel F. Aitken.

Performance Date: Sept. 6, 2023

At Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival 2021, performance poet Alice d’Lumiere staged a “Spoken Word Overture” to challenge her childhood inability to sing. The self-confessed gender outsider and a late-starter in opera returns with “The Trans Lady Sings.” This one-hour work in progress, featuring music by Tina Gooding and words by Alice d’Lumiere. explores themes of vocal identity, gender fluidity, and self-expression through prose, verse, comedy, and performance art.

Performance Date: Sept. 6, 2023

“Looking Inward” presents a double bill featuring “Show Home” and “When the Sky Cracks Open,” which explore different perspectives of introspection. These semi-staged works delve into themes of relationships, family drama, LGBTQ+ visibility in history, and grief and loss. The cast of “Show Home” includes Margarida Vaz Neto as Kay, Michael Temporal Darell as Mr Perfect, and Hera Protopapas Wettergren as Mrs Perfect, directed by Sophie Daneman with Enyi Okpara as the music director. In “When the Sky Cracks Open,” Lucy Thalange portrays the Archaeologist, Allyn Wu portrays the Slave, and Michael Temporal Darell portrays the Master’s Son, also directed by Sophie Daneman with Enyi Okpara as the music director.

Performance Date: Sept. 7, 2023

“Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera Reimagined” is the first-ever pidgin opera. It tells the story of the Menemeh tribe, who maintain peace through songs. The opera, composed and written by Helen Epega, features her as the lead vocalist. Artists include Richard Ọlátúndé Baker on African percussion, Adam Coney on electric guitar, and Abdul Williams on steel pans.

Performance Date: Sept. 7, 2023

“The Gaia Hypothesis” is a one-woman-electro-opera that explores Earth, nature, loneliness, and connection. Lindertje Mans takes on multiple roles, transforming into a deep-sea fish, a space shuttle, and a human cell, in an attempt to feel connected to the whole system. The music composed by Lindertje Mans and Roald van Oosten was acclaimed as the “Best composition for theatre in 2022” by Dutch theatre critic Marijn Lems. The concept, text, and performance are by Lindertje Mans, with music production and sound design by Roald van Oosten. Thomas Schoots directs.

Performance Date: Sept. 8, 2023

“The Monster of Gao Village” is the third installment in the series, “Journey to the West.” The Monkey King and Xuanzang enter the Gao Village on their journey to the West, realizing there’s a monster in the village. The opera combines Chinese and Western musical instruments, blending both musical traditions. The cast includes Henry Ngan as Zhu Ganglie 豬剛鬣 (Pigsy豬八戎), Lixin Liu as the Monkey King 孫悟空, HoWang Yuen as Gao Cai 高才, Frankie Fung as Mr. Gao高太公, Valerie Wong as Gao Cuilan 高翠蘭, and Michael CT Lam as Xuanzang 玄奘/Sakyamunī, the Buddha 如來佛. The opera is composed and directed by Anna Vienna Ho, with libretto by Roxanne Korda. Michael CT Lam serves as the director.

Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2023

“On Being Vocal” is an a capella, one-woman micro-opera that explores a women’s support group. Six characters bravely vocalize what they’ve hidden, sharing their experiences as millennial women and discussing distorted expectations and their upbringing. The production features Sarah Parkin, composer Rania Chrysostomou, and visuals by British filmmaker Catherine Valve.

Performance Date: Sept. 10, 2023

“Fragments of a Lost Land” explores the myths and mysteries of Atlantis. Created by Susannah Self, the production features The Chaos Collective string quartet. Through music, soundscapes, and installations, the work prompts contemplation of Atlantis’ destruction and location, inviting reflection on our future survival and the timeless allure of this ancient legend.

Performance Date: Sept. 10, 2023

“Displaced A Woolwich Arsenal Opera” is a work-in-progress performance created by PJ Harris and Hannah Kumari. Featuring music by Shahryar and words by Kumari, the opera relates the story of Suffragettes planning an attack that could have lasting consequences for Woolwich Arsenal FC.

Performance Date: Sept. 12, 2023