The Grange Festival is set to present “The Soul of Opera” on July 2 and 3, 2026.

The concert, set to take the stage at at The Grange Festival in Hampshire, blends opera with soul, jazz, and gospel, drawing inspiration from Aretha Franklin’s 1998 Grammy Awards performance of “Nessun Dorma,” in which she stepped in for Luciano Pavarotti. The performance also features arias by Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, Bellini, and Bizet as well as gospel and soul classics associated with Franklin, Nina Simone, and Etta James.

“‘The Soul of Opera’ embodies exactly the kind of artistic curiosity and emotional connection we want audiences to experience. This concert reveals the shared heartbeat between opera, soul and gospel — a celebration of the voice as something universal,” Festival CEO Tyler Stoops said, per an official press release.

Canadian conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, currently Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education at the San Francisco Symphony, will lead the Welsh National Opera Orchestra. The cast features South African tenor Innocent Masuku, a 2024 “Britain’s Got Talent” finalist and current member of English National Opera; Juno-nominated Jamaican-Canadian vocalist Jah’Mila; and American mezzo-soprano Melody Wilson, whose recent credits include debuts at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Seattle Opera.

Performances kick off at 5:00 p.m. local time.

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