NORTHERN IRELAND OPERA PRESENTS
GEORGE BIZET’S CARMEN
Directed by Cameron Menzies. Music Director Greg Arrowsmith
Featuring the Northern Ireland Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of Northern Ireland Opera
12, 15, 17, 19 September 2026
- Artistic Milestone: This striking new production marks Northern Ireland Opera’s first-ever staging of Carmen.
- Rising Stars and Acclaimed Return: Upcoming baritone Thomas Chenhall joins as the charismatic Escamillo alongside previously announced tenor Noah Stewart who returns to Belfast as Don José, starring opposite rising star Ruby Dibble in her role debut as Carmen.
- Home-Grown Star Power: Celebrated local tenor Andrew Irwin joins as Le Remendado alongside the previously announced sopranos Mary McCabe (Tatyana in Eugene Onegin), Petra Wells (Young Heidi in Follies), mezzo-soprano Jenny Bourke (Filipeyvna in Eugene Onegin).
- New Musical Arrangements: Music Director Greg Arrowsmith returns following last year’s smash hit Follies with exclusive arrangements crafted for an intimate on-stage instrumental quintet.
- Vital Community Panel: Northern Ireland Opera will host Behind the Curtain, a panel led event which pulls back the veil on Carmen’s complex narratives, hosting an essential discussion that examines traditional operatic tropes through a modern lens of safety and gender-based violence.
Northern Ireland Opera today unveils further principal cast for the company’s performance of Georges Bizet’s Carmen. Directed by Artistic Director Cameron Menzies, this grand-scale production marks the national company’s first-time staging of Bizet’s definitive work at Belfast’s Grand Opera House in September. This visceral story of passion and defiance is viewed through a contemporary lens to illuminate its deep relevance today.
Joining the production is rising star baritone Thomas Chenhall who plays opposite previously announced Ruby Dibble’s Carmen as the charismatic bullfighter Escamillo fresh from a house debut at Glyndebourne and a performance at Carnegie Hall with The English Concert. Bass-baritone Niall Anderson also joins in the role of Zuniga following his appearances in Tosca and Eugene Onegin for Northern Ireland Opera.
The company welcomes back US tenor Noah Stewart, a firm favourite with Belfast audiences. No stranger to the Grand Opera House stage, Stewart revisits the city following his towering performances as Rodolfo in La Bohème and Alfredo in La Traviata in 2021 and 2022 respectively. As a recording artist he has topped the UK Classical Album Charts and earned widespread international plaudits for his versatility. For this brand-new staging, he interprets the unravelling obsession of Don José, an iconic signature role opposite rising star, Carnegie Hall debutant, and Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition national finalist Ruby Dibble, who steps into one of opera’s most iconic roles as the fatalistic, fiercely independent Carmen.
Bringing more local star power to Bizet’s masterpiece, tenor Andrew Irwin joins the previously announced soprano Mary McCabe as Micaëla, mezzo-soprano Jenny Bourke as Mercédès and soprano Petra Wells as Frasquita. Wells’ mesmerising duet of ‘One More Kiss’ with Lesley Garrett in last year’s Follies guarantees an exceptional showcase of home-grown talent.
Artistic Director Cameron Menzies says: “Great opera should move, challenge, and delight audiences in equal measure, and few works achieve that balance more successfully than Carmen. I have wanted to direct Carmen for many years, but I have always felt that it is a piece that demands the right moment. For Northern Ireland Opera, that moment is now. It is a work packed with extraordinary music, complex characters, and some of the most thrilling chorus writing in the repertoire.
Over the last five years, we have been quietly building our exceptional chorus towards this challenge. However, this production is also an urgent opportunity to look at this tragic story through a modern lens, using our stage to confront the historic trope of the tragic heroine and address the vital, real-world conversations surrounding gender-based safety today.”
Steering the musical vision is Greg Arrowsmith, who returns to the company as Music Director following his triumphant direction of Follies last year to lead the 37-strong Orchestra of Northern Ireland Opera. Elevating the production’s music narrative, Arrowsmith has also crafted new arrangements specifically for a unique instrumental quintet, who will perform in partnership with the orchestra in the pit. This in-character on-stage ensemble will add an intimate, immersive layer to the opera’s legendary score.
The production’s visual and physical world is shaped by a stellar contingent of Northern Ireland Opera’s creative collaborators, including set designer Niall McKeever. Marking his sixth major collaboration with the company, McKeever, an Irish Times Theatre Award nominee for Into the Woods, brings his signature bold and large-scale vision to Belfast’s Grand Opera House, following celebrated designs for Follies, Eugene Onegin, Tosca, and La Traviata. Joining him is West End choreographer Jennifer Rooney (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Into the Woods, Once), who returns to craft the production’s dynamic movement. This creative team also includes lighting designer Jake Wiltshire with Nuala Campbell as wig and make-up designer.
Pre-Show Panel Event: Behind the Curtain: Muse, Martyr and Murder Victim
On Thursday 20th August, Northern Ireland Opera will host Behind the Curtain, a unique event featuring live music performance and discussion exploring historic operatic tropes of the tragic heroine to open vital conversations regarding workplace inequality, safety, and the prevention of violence against women and girls. Guided by host Rachel Clarke-Hughes (international creative producer and Project Coordinator for the Training for Women Network [TWS]), joined by a diverse line-up of voices: Tahnee McCorry (Founder of White Ribbon NI); best-selling author Atoosa Sepehr, broadcaster Lata Sharma, and Carmen Director Cameron Menzies.
Alongside contemporary research on engaging men and boys to help eliminate violence, the evening will feature members of the cast performing live musical extracts of the opera’s most well-known arias. Utilising both live music and raw discussion as a powerful platform for social reflection.
Main Cast Biographies
Ruby Dibble
Mezzo-soprano Ruby Dibble is a studio member at the Oper Frankfurt, where her roles include Isaura (Tancredi), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Sandmännchen (Hänsel und Gretel), and Un Musico (Manon Lescaut). She graduated from Juilliard, Curtis, and Oberlin and is an alumnus of young artist programs at Santa Fe Opera, Merola, Wolf Trap, Glimmerglass, and Aspen. Her roles include Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites), Elle (La Voix Humaine), and Prince Charmant (Cendrillon).
Ruby made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2024, and performed at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Ruby was the third-place winner and Samantha Hankey Nova Award recipient of the 2026 Zenith Opera Competition, a 2025 George London competition finalist, a 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition national finalist, the first place winner of the 2024 Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, a 2024 Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition finalist, and the second place winner of the 2023 Cooper-Bing Competition.
Thomas Chenhall
Rising baritone Thomas Chenhall is one of the most promising baritones of the next generation. He is closely associated with the roles of Don Giovanni, which he recently sang under the baton of Francesco Corti at Palau de la Musica Valencia and which he will sing again at Opera North, as well as Britten’s Billy Budd, in which he made his debut at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in Ted Huffmann’s flagship production. He looks forward to renewed collaboration with The English Concert and Harry Bicket at the Barbican as Ernando Scipione and to debuts in future seasons at many of the world’s most important houses.
Thomas recently completed a one-year residency with Opera National du Rhin, appearing in their productions of Otello, Le Miracle d’Heliane, and Les Mamelles de Tiresias and singing the solos in Mozart’s Requiem opposite tenor Michael Spyres. He also returned to the Barbican as Elviro in Handel’s Serse together with the Academy of Ancient Music under the direction of Laurence Cummings. Previous highlights include Messiah at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall under the baton of Michael Bawtree, returned to the Royal Opera House as Papageno Die Zauberflöte, and made his Glyndebourne Festival debut as Curio Giulio Cesare in David McVicar’s acclaimed production.
He also performed Don Giovanni in a concert with the BVA trust and Glyndebourne players in London, and made his house debut at English National Opera in a revival of Sir Jonathon Miller’s La Boheme. Other past appearances include Silvio Pagliacci at West Green Opera, Rochester Jane Eyre at the Grimeborn Festival, cover of Dandini La Cenerentola and Spinelloccio Gianni Schicchi at Nevill Holt Opera, Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia for Ulster Touring Opera, Harasta The Cunning Little Vixen and Il Conte Le nozze di Figaro with Hampsted Opera, Sid Albert Herring for Clonter Opera and Season 2026/27..
Thomas made his International Debut as Laquais Don Quichotte at the Wexford International Opera Festival in 2019. He completed his studies at the Royal Academy.
Noah Stewart
Noah Stewart is an internationally acclaimed operatic tenor celebrated for his vocal brilliance, magnetic stage presence, and charismatic artistry. A native of Harlem, he began his musical journey at the Harlem School of the Arts and later studied at the Juilliard School. Early in his career, he gained performance experience through educational television and earned First Prize at the New England Music Competition. Renowned for his interpretations of the Romantic Italian and French repertoire, Stewart has performed at many of the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls, and festivals.
His Decca debut album topped the UK classical charts for seven consecutive weeks and received two Classical BRIT Award nominations. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors and composers including Lorin Maazel, John Adams, Julius Rudel, and Daniele Rustioni. A sought-after concert and recording artist, Stewart continues to captivate audiences worldwide through performances that combine technical mastery, dramatic intensity, and a compelling artistic presence.
Niall Anderson
Recognised for his “bright and richly expressive” bass voice, Niall’s roles include Neptune (The Tempest,) at La Grange au Lac, Collatinus (The Rape of Lucretia) at Theatre Bouffes du Nord, Allazim (Zaide) at Angers/Nantes Opera and Opera de Rennes, Priest/Armed Man/Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte), Depute Flamand (Don Carlos), Frank Maurant (Street Scene), all at the Opera de Paris, Escamillo (Carmen) at Atelier Lyrique Tourcoing, Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Sacristan (Tosca) both at Northern Ireland Opera, Barone di Kelbar (cover) (Un Giorno di Regno) at Garsington Opera, Somnus (Semele), Bertrand (Iolanta), Harašta (The Cunning Little Vixen), Le Philosophe (Chérubin) all at Royal Academy Opera.
In the 2025/2026 season Niall makes his debuts as AlaskaWolfJoe in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at the Teatro Petruzzelli and Teatro Verdi Trieste, Sparafucile in Rigoletto at the Teatre Principal in Palma, and Shit and Egg (cover) in Pass the Spoon with Opera North.
Mary McCabe
Mary McCabe is a soprano hailing from Downpatrick, N.Ireland. With Northern Ireland Opera she has performed many roles, for example: ‘Tatyana’ in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onégin (Grand Opera House), ‘Violetta’ (cover) in La Traviata (GOH), and ‘Elle’ in their production of Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine (touring multiple UK theatres). Mary featured in the award-winning film ‘Old Friends and Other Days’ directed by Cameron Menzies. Last year Mary toured England and France with Diva Opera as ‘Contessa’ in Mozart’s ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ and continues touring this year as ‘Mimì’ in Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’.
A frequent recitalist and concert soloist Mary has performed multiple times with the Fews Ensemble (Newry Chamber Music), RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra. Mary graduated First Class in Music and French from QUB and with Distinction in her Masters degree from RCS. An award-winning performer on the operatic, oratorio and recital platforms, Mary has performed both nationally and internationally to critical acclaim.
Jenny Bourke
Jenny is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Based in Northern Ireland, she balances an active singing career with her work as an established vocal tutor and Vocal Health First Aider.
Jenny joined Northern Ireland Opera in 2022. Her roles with the company include the Stepmother in Philip Glass’s The Juniper Tree and her 2024 mainstage debut as Filipeyvna in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Her extensive operatic repertoire also spans performances with Castleward Opera, RCS, and Opera Fringe, featuring roles in La Traviata, Tosca, and Così fan tutte.
Her concert work has taken her to New York, Beijing, and Paris. In 2026, she joined Arcangelo for Handel’s Saul and toured Europe with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Her upcoming engagements include tours of Handel’s Messiah alongside Le Concert d’Astrée, the LA Philharmonic, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Jenny can be heard singing on the album Sweet Chance with harpist Tanya Haughton on all major streaming platforms.
Petra Wells
Petra is a soprano based in Belfast. She trained under Professor Robert Alderson whilst studying Law (University of Manchester) and continues training with Graeme Danby, London. This is Petra’s fifth year with the Chorus Development Programme. Roles for NI Opera include Young Heidi in Sondheim’s ‘Follies’ opposite Lesley Garret CBE as Heidi, the role of Daughter in Glass/Moran’s ‘The Juniper Tree’ with chorus roles: ‘Eugene Onegin’, ‘Nobody/Somebody’, ‘Tosca’, ‘La Traviata’ (Study Cover – Annina), ‘La Bohème’, ‘Die Fledermaus’.
Petra has been a featured soloist across NI including Morning Melodies at the Grand Opera House, Rosemary Street Summer Recital Series, Red Sails Festival Portstewart and Walled City Music Festival Derry. Petra made her Ulster Hall solo debut in 2024 celebrating the Lord Mayor of Belfast’s tenure. Petra was a finalist in the 2023 Glenarm Festival of Voice, receiving training from Dr Ingrid Surgenor, Professor Mark Wildman, Simon Lepper and Ben McAteer.
Andrew Irwin
Tenor Andrew Irwin has recently returned to Northern Ireland after five successful years as a principal at Stadttheater Bremerhaven. Andrew’s highlights in Bremerhaven have included Camille de Rosillon (Die lustige Witwe), Pang (Turandot), Freddy Eynsford-Hill (My Fair Lady) and Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel). 2025/2026 included Truffaldino (Die Liebe zu den drei
Orangen), Graf Boni (Die Csárdásfürstin), Frank Abagnale Sr. (Catch me if you can), Anthony (Sweeney Todd) and Gastone (La Traviata). Irwin’s professional operatic debut was in 2019 with Welsh National Opera. At Longborough Festival opera, Andrew has performed in two Monteverdi operas- to great acclaim Telemaco Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria and Pastore L’Orfeo. Andrew sang an Opera Highlights Tour for Scottish Opera in 2020, and covered Lysander A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Current and future plans include Pedrillo Die Entführung aus dem Serail for the Goethe Theater in Bad Lauchstädt and Beauty and the Beast for Bampton Classical Opera.
Creative Biographies
Cameron Menzies
Award-winning director Cameron Menzies is recognised internationally for creating bold, visually striking productions that combine theatrical imagination with powerful storytelling. His work spans opera, music theatre, theatre, cabaret and film, with productions seen throughout the UK, Ireland, Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa and the United States. His recent productions for Northern Ireland Opera, including Into the Woods, La Traviata, Tosca, Eugene Onégin and Follies, have attracted widespread critical acclaim.
Into the Woods won Best Production at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, while his work has played a significant role in Northern Ireland Opera’s growing national and international profile, contributing to the company’s nomination for the Equal Opportunity and Impact Award at the International Opera Awards. Passionate about championing artists and opening opera to new audiences, Cameron creates productions that are visually compelling, emotionally resonant and rooted in the belief that great opera should be dynamic, relevant and accessible to everyone.
Greg Arrowsmith
Greg’s extensive career in theatre, concert, film and television includes 21 West End productions, 10 UK tours, 3 world tours and numerous concerts. Recent credits include: Come Alive The greatest Showman Circus Spectacular – London & Australia (Music Supervisor), The Rocky Horror Show – World Tour (Music Supervisor), Meow Meow “She’s back” – Berlin (Pianist), Follies – Belfast Grand Opera House (Musical Director), Ciphers – Tete a tete opera festival (Composer), Sheherazade with BBC NOW – Hoddinott Hall (Conductor and new arrangements),
Songs for nobody’s – Ambassadors Theatre (Musical Director and new arrangements), Women on the Verge of a nervous breakdown – Playhouse Theatre & Cast album (Musical Director) and 9 Pantomimes at the London Palladium. Films include Rocketman, Paddington 2 and Sunlit Dust. Greg has performed for both HRH Queen Elizabeth II and HRH King Charles at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace respectively.
Niall McKeever
Upcoming credits include: Lourdes! The Musical (Xnthony for Dublin Theatre Festival)
Recent theatre credits includes: Donbas (Theatre 503); Follies (Northern Ireland Opera); Making History (Everyman Theatre, Cork); The Brightening Air, Oedipus (The Old Vic); Waiting for Godot (West End); The Tragedy of Richard III (Lyric Theatre, Belfast); Eugene Onegin, Tosca, La Traviata and Into the Woods – winner of Irish Times Irish Theatre Award for Best Production (N.I. Opera, Belfast); Translations (National Theatre); Peter Pan (Gate Theatre, Dublin); Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act – won the JMK Award – and Yellowman (Orange Tree); The Dry House (Marylebone Theatre); Under the Kundé Tree (Southwark Playhouse); This Beautiful Future (Jermyn Street Theatre); and Into the Woods (His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth). www.niallmckeeverdesign.com
Jennifer Rooney
Jennifer is a choreographer and movement director with over 25 years experience.
TV and Film: Walk the Blue Fields, Derry Girls (series 2 and 3), How to Get to Heaven from Belfast (series 1), World on Fire (series 2), Old Friends and Other Days (Northern Ireland Opera), Flight (BBC & One Dance Uk), Lark (NI Screen)
Musical Theatre: Follies (Northern Ireland Opera), Jack Frost (MAC, Belfast) Murder for Two (Bruiser Theatre Company), Fun Home & Piaf (The Gate Dublin), Good Vibrations (Lyric Belfast & IAC New York), Into the Woods (West Australian Opera & Northern Ireland Opera).
Opera: Eugene Onegin, The Juniper Tree & La Boheme (Northern Ireland Opera), La Traviata, Rigoletto & L’elisir d’amore (Diva Opera).
Associate movement Director: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre London), Once (Coex Theatre Seoul), Truth (Helen Chadwick Company, UK Tour), Once (Dublin, Seoul & Pitlochry) Resident Movement Director: Once (Phoenix Theatre, London), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre, London).
Jake Wiltshire
Jake designs extensively both in the UK and Worldwide. His work has been seen with major opera companies and festivals including The Royal Opera House, New Zealand Opera, Savonlinna Opera Festival, and St. Galler Festspiele, as well as nearly all of the UK’s top music conservatoires. Internationally, he’s worked throughout Europe, North America, and Asia in a variety of venues from traditional proscenium arch theatres to unique site-specific spaces. He won the ‘Outstanding Achievement in Opera’ Award at the 2026 Profile awards and in 2009 he was made an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (HonARAM).
Recent credits include: The Old Maid and The Thief for the Spoleto Festival USA; Madame Butterfly a co production between Irish National Opera and Scottish Opera; Follies, for Northern Ireland Opera; Susanna for Opera North; L’Olimpiade, (2025 Olivier Award Nominee for Best Opera) a co-production between the Royal Opera House, Irish National Opera and Fribourg Nouvel Opera.
Nuala Campbell
Nuala Campbell is a Belfast-based Hair and Makeup Designer with over 15 years’ experience in opera, theatre, film and fashion. Her recent work for Northern Ireland Opera includes Follies(2025), Eugene Onegin (2024), Tosca (2023), La Voix Humaine (Everyman, Cork), La Traviata, La Bohème and Don Giovanni. She has collaborated with leading theatres across Ireland and the UK, bringing expertise in period styling, wigs and character-driven design. Nuala began her career internationally in fashion, working at shows in London, Milan, Tokyo and Paris, with her work published in Vogue. Her approach focuses on collaboration, ensuring hair and makeup design supports both performer and production.
Northern Ireland Opera
As Northern Ireland’s national opera company, we are the only professional company in the country producing full scale work on stage and which celebrates and platforms Northern Irish artists, for audiences from their local communities and beyond. We contrast this with nimble smaller scale high quality opera productions which we tour to communities across the country where there is low/no classical music provision.
From teenagers experiencing their first opera, to those with a lifelong love of the artform; our critically acclaimed produced work engages audiences in a unique opera experience rooted in a country with a rich history of music. We are building a community of local and international singers, musicians and creatives and supporting them to develop their craft and progress their professional pathways.
Our approach instils generosity as well as aspiration and collaboration as we draw on, invest in and contribute back to our local communities. We capture imaginations and provide the space and tools for people to explore their creative skills and potential. Every person who participates with us, whether as a member of our Northern Ireland Chorus Development Programme, a participant on a creative workshop or Skills Expo session, is given the personalised support which will enable the most impactful outcomes.
About The Grand Opera House The Grand Opera House is Northern Ireland’s Premier Theatre, and the only surviving Victorian playhouse in the country. With a stunning and recently restored Frank Matcham auditorium and a wide range of productions staged throughout the year, the Theatre is one of the best-loved and most important cultural assets in Northern Ireland.
