“I’ve been part of the Garsington family for more than a decade, and am thrilled to be taking over as Chair of the Board of Trustees at such an exciting moment in the company’s history.
In addition to my board position, I have for many years been a Garsington production supporter, a role which I’ve found not only very enjoyable, but also a marvellous way to learn about the art and craft of making opera.
Our Members will know that since we arrived at our new home at Wormsley Garsington Opera has gone from strength to strength under the artistic direction of Dougie Boyd, and the continuing executive leadership of Nicky Creed. Our base in the beautiful setting at Wormsley, and the continuing improvements to our unique auditorium have allowed us to grow our annual summer season from three opera productions each year to four, and to create a series of new community operas and programmes for young people.
Our partnerships with The English Concert and the Philharmonia have helped elevate our quality of performance, and Garsington is now a magnet for some of the best directors and conductors, as well as developing an increasingly strong Young Artists’ Programme to support brilliant young musicians and performers.
I’m sure you will agree that our 2022 season was possibly our best yet, encompassing the austere beauty of Orfeo, the spectacular richness of Rusalka, the revival of our spine-chilling The Turn of the Screw, our re-imagining of John Cox’s production of Così fan Tutte, and finishing with Dalia, our brilliantly moving community opera. We were delighted that this range of production excellence was recognised in Garsington’s nomination for Best Opera Festival at the 2022 International Opera Awards.
2023 offers the prospect of another wonderful season; new productions of Mitridate, re di Ponto, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Il barbiere di Siviglia, together with a revival of our very popular production of The Bartered Bride.
Meanwhile work continues on completion of the Arts Hub, due in late 2023. This new building, set close to the entrance to the Wormsley estate, is a crucial element of our ambition to strengthen and reinforce the scope of Garsington Opera’s operational and artistic activities, to expand our Young Artist’s programme, and to develop our increasingly important learning and participation and community projects.
I’m committed to helping the company bring this game-changing project to life. Given the challenging times in which we are all living, we do inevitably still have some money to raise towards the final completion of the structure, and we will report on our progress and show you what we have built in the course of next summer.
I look forward to meeting many of you then, and to welcoming you back to the 2023 season of Garsington Opera at Wormsley.”
Miranda Curtis, Incoming Chair of the Board of Trustees