Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival has announced its 2025 edition.

“It Must Have Been Tuesday” features words and performance by Joanna Gamble and Neil Balfour. Russell Plows offers music and direction to the piece, which is inspired by the U.S. event “The Moth.” It features two opera singers speak and sing about a life-changing event, supported only by a violin solo.

Performance Date: June 27, 2025

“Rossini and the Overture” is an all-new concept by Tim Burke that showcases the famed composer under arrest until he finishes a show he promised his boss. However, this Rossini is an impersonator because the real one has been retired for years.

Performance Date: June 27, 2025

There will be a “Festival Shorts” program that includes “WYRM 2.0,” “Opera du Mal,” “Acrimonia,” and “Escape Room Opera.”

“WYRM 2.0” is an “emerging ecofeminist opera-performance reawakening the ancient Northumbrian tale of the Laidly Wyrm through myth, memory, and sound. Rooted in local folklore and drawn from the artist’s own heritage, this one-woman piece explores wildness, resistance, and collective remembering.” The performer is Harkling.

“Opera du Mal” is a piece by composer Sarah Li with words by Charles Baudelaire. The work is described as a “Queer, anti-misogynist reinterpretation of the poetry of Baudelaire, exploring themes of cruising and abandoned public space as places for Queer encounters.” An artist will present the aria “Le Serpent Qui Dance,” exploring a character falling into lust with a woman she meets in an abandoned space.

“Acromonia” features music by Lucy Valentine and two extracts from a forthcoming tale of Renaissance rivalries and exploitation.

Finally, “Escape Room Opera” features a team of composers and writers trapped in an escape room writing a show to escape.

Performance Date: June 28, 2025

“Ghost” is a piece by Anna Appleby and Emma Wheeler that explores their live experiences as queer, neurodivergent women.

Performance Date: June 28, 2025

The festival then heads to The Cockpit. More details coming soon.

Performance Date: Sept. 22 – Oct. 10 , 2025

Read Related Stories

• Tête à Tête Opera Festival 2024 Review: The Improvesarios, Cockpit Theatre

• Tête à Tête Announces ‘The Opera Festival’ 2024 Lineup

• ‘The Game’ to Make World Premiere at Tête à Tête Opera Festival