2025: A Year of Growth, Collaboration and Experimentation
2025: A Year of Growth, Collaboration and Experimentation
2025 was another busy year of reimagining opera for Music Theatre Wales. As ever, our aim was to question what opera can be, and who gets to create it — exploring bold, creative and imaginative ways of making, experiencing and thinking about opera.
This work took place live, online, in schools and in communities, across Wales and England. As a result, MTW reached over 6,100 people. Below is a snapshot, through the numbers, of the impact we made in 2025.
Our reach in 2025
1,700+ children and young people
Through work with schools, Future Directions and our New Notes composition programme
2,600+ people in person
At performances, presentations, talks and events in theatres and community venues
3,500+ online viewers
Engaging with our digital operas and online content
Creating new work
We created three new productions:
Alongside this, we commissioned 12 new works by music creators in Wales, including five by composers under the age of 18, continuing our commitment to nurturing new talent and future voices.
Touring, partnerships and performance
55 live performances
17 venues across Wales and England
19 collaborative events with partners and collaborators
These partnerships brought communities, artists and audiences together — creating space to share ideas, challenge traditional forms and imagine what opera can be today.
Recognition and organisational development
In 2025, we:
Won the award for Best Performance Film at Focus Wales
Were shortlisted for a major European award at the Fedora Biennale
Delivered our first sustainable production in line with the Theatre Green Book
We also strengthened our governance by appointing:
Three new trustees, including two Young Trustees and one Trustee in Training
In addition, we appointed a new Community Producer, Abena-Mintaah Mensah, to develop and champion our work in Grangetown and Butetown, deepening our commitment to locally rooted, meaningful engagement.
Looking ahead
As we turn our attention to 2026, we’re excited to build on this momentum — with more collaboration, more new voices, and more ways for people to connect with opera.
Here’s to more of the same in 2026.
Keep an eye on our website and social media channels to learn more about our plans for the year ahead.