Due to Exceptional Demand, Nevill Holt Festival Releases Additional Performance as It Announces All-Star Cast for Don Pasquale

The Article

Wed 25 March, 2026

Nevill Holt Festival is delighted to announce the cast and creative team for its 2026 opera production, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, presented in partnership with Opera North. The production brings together a stellar company of leading British artists for what promises to be one of the operatic highlights of the summer season.

Australian-British baritone Grant Doyle takes the title role, bringing a wealth of experience to the part, having previously performed it for West Green Opera. A former Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House, Doyle is no stranger to Nevill Holt, having previously appeared at the Festival as Don Magnifico and Don Bartolo. His extensive career spans the Royal Opera House, English Touring Opera, Opera Holland Park and major houses in Europe and his native Australia, where he won a Helpmann Award for Best Male Performer in a Supporting Role.

Soprano Harriet Eyley sings Norina, a role she first performed to acclaim as a Welsh National Opera Associate Artist. Described by The Guardian as “silver-toned and effortless”, Eyley has been in demand across the UK and Europe, with recent highlights including Cherubino in WNO’s Le nozze di Figaro and appearances at Garsington Opera, Opera Holland Park and English Touring Opera. A graduate of the Royal College of Music and an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, she has performed for HM King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, and live on BBC Radio 3.

Rising tenor Aaron Godfrey-Mayes returns to Nevill Holt as Ernesto, having made a memorable impression at the Festival as Ramiro in La Cenerentola. One of the most exciting young tenors working today, Godfrey-Mayes recently completed a period as a member of the International Opera Studio at the Hamburg State Opera, performing over a dozen mainstage roles under conductors including Alexander Soddy. He is a former Alvarez Young Artist at Garsington Opera and completed his undergraduate and postgraduate degree at the Royal Academy of Music.

Baritone Henry Neill takes the role of Dr Malatesta. An international opera singer based in Austria, Neill’s recent engagements include Sam and Junior in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and A Quiet Place for the Royal Opera House, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte for Opera North, and Samuel in The Pirates of Penzance for English National Opera. A St John’s College, Cambridge graduate and Royal Academy of Music alumnus, he was the winner of the 2016 Royal Overseas Singer’s Prize.

Ross McInroy, a member of the Chorus of Opera North, completes the cast as Carlotto (Notary). A former Scottish Opera Emerging Artist and graduate of the National Opera Studio, the RCM International Opera School, and the Royal Academy of Music, McInroy’s roles for Opera North include Masetto in Don Giovanni and Doctor Grenvil in La traviata.

The production is conducted by Michael Papadopoulos, the British-Cypriot conductor and former BBC Music Magazine Rising Star who is currently Kapellmeister at Vienna’s Volksoper. An alumnus of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, Papadopoulos has worked across the UK’s leading opera houses including the Royal Opera, Opera North, Garsington Opera, and Opera Holland Park, and has been praised by The Times for his “immaculately conducted” Mavra and Pierrot Lunaire. He leads a distinguished creative team of director James Hurley and designer Elliott Squire.

Don Pasquale is Donizetti’s sparkling comic masterpiece – a tale of scheming, romance, and disguise in which the elderly bachelor Don Pasquale attempts to disinherit his nephew Ernesto by marrying a young bride, only to find himself on the receiving end of an elaborate ruse. Widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Italian comic opera, it combines dazzling vocal writing with wit, warmth and irresistible theatrical energy – a perfect match for Nevill Holt’s acclaimed intimate theatre.

Following exceptional demand, an additional fifth performance has been added to the run. Performances now take place on:

Friday 29 May 2026, 5pm

Sunday 31 May 2026, 3pm

Wednesday 3 June, 5pm

Friday 5 June 2026, 5pm

Sunday 7 June 2026, 3pm

“Bringing together a cast of this calibre for Don Pasquale is tremendously exciting for us”, says Festival founder David Ross. “These are artists of exceptional musical and dramatic flair, and in the intimacy of Nevill Holt, audiences can experience every sparkle of Donzietti’s wit. We’re thrilled that demand has been so strong that we’re able to add a fifth performance to what promises to be a real highlight of our 2026 programme.”