The Royal Opera’s Festen Wins Large-Scale Composition Award at the RPS Awards
By Ruth Haines, Head of Opera Press
Friday 13 March 2026
Last night at the RPS Awards, The Royal Opera’s critically acclaimed, sold-out production of Festen - a new work by Mark-Anthony Turnage and Lee Hall – was honoured with another award: the Large-Scale Composition award.
The opera has won all the major industry awards since its premiere in February 2025, having also won the World Premiere Award at the International Opera Awards (2025) and two Olivier Awards (2025): Best New Opera Production and Outstanding Achievement in Opera for Allan Clayton. Such prestigious recognition demonstrates the high calibre of all aspects of the production as well as opera’s continued storytelling power, ability to tackle difficult subjects and the health of the artform’s future.
RPS Chair Angela Dixon presented the award during the ceremony at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall to composer Mark-Anthony Turnage: librettist Lee Hall and bass-baritone Gerald Finley who created the role of Helge at the world premiere in February 2025, were also in attendance.
Hundreds of people from across all departments at the Royal Ballet and Opera came together to bring Festen to life as well as the world-class cast and creative team: Turnage, Hall, director Richard Jones, Set Designer Miriam Buether, Costume Designer Nicky Gillibrand, Lighting Designer Lucy Carter and Movement Director Lucy Burge, Allan Clayton (Christian), Stéphane Degout (Michael), Gerald Finley (Helge), Natalya Romaniw (Helena) and Rosie Aldridge (Else), conducted by Edward Gardner.
Festen is a co-production with Finnish National Opera and is currently being rehearsed in Helsinki ahead of its opening on 27 March.
“It’s a great honour to have won this award in a category full of outstanding work. Working on this opera together was such a rewarding journey, particularly the ability to workshop the piece with the amazing cast and creative team. Hearing your music and lyrics come to life in the rehearsal room, having lived with it privately for so long, is an immense thrill and being able to change things as we responded to hearing the work being sung is one of the best parts of being a composer and librettist. ”
“Creating Festen was an incredible experience, and the reaction has blown us away; the fact that it is still being talked about is a testimony to the power of opera to tackle really difficult subjects that are, heartbreakingly, all too prevalent today. We’d like to thank everybody involved for their unstinting support during the process. ”
Adapted from Oscar-winning filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg’s 1998 film of the same name, Festen premiered on the Main Stage from 11- 27 February 2025 and was universally praised by critics, awarding it 4 and 5 star reviews across the board.
Reaffirming the Company’s commitment to new opera, Festen is the latest in a long line of acclaimed new commissions by The Royal Opera including Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence (2023); Oliver Leith’s Last Days (2022); Laura Bowler’s The Blue Woman (2022); George Benjamin’s Written on Skin (2013), Lessons in Love and Violence (2018), and Picture a Day Like This (2023); and Turnage’s Anna Nicole (2011).
“Festen really is a modern masterpiece that deserves to be added to the canon of regularly performed repertoire. Its premiere was a moment to showcase opera’s enduring ability to tell real and raw stories, evidenced by the fact that it keeps getting recognised with prestigious awards. Congratulations once again to the whole cast and creative team involved in bringing this production to the stage”
To find out more about the production, including key plot points and background information: read our Festen Opera Essentials page.
To watch cast and creatives discuss the production, watch our Festen (2025): Insight on RBO Stream.