Opera Futures is all about the development, creation and production of new staged work with music. Its founders, Jess Walker and Luke Styles, are artists who collaborate across genres to tell stories for our times. 

Opera Futures is dedicated to the future of new music theatre. We recognise that in the current funding landscape, creating and innovating new expressions of the form is essential for a living, breathing and evolving art form. We cannot sit back and relegate opera to the historic canon. Now is the time to collaborate, to take risks, and to see what the opera of the future could look like. 

For context, in the 2024 ACE Opera and Music Theatre Analysis, which referenced Jess Walker’s articles and doctoral thesis, the authors identified a need for collective thinking and action, especially in the nurturing of new work. They suggested sharing risk and constructing a better pipeline for creative talent. 

By acting collectively, we share both risk and creative reward. With that in mind, Opera Futures is joining up with opera companies, houses and festivals in the UK and internationally to work towards these aims in three ways:

·      As consultants for companies wishing to develop new work

·      As a hub for the development of new opera artists

·      As co-producers and co-creators of new work

We are in the early stages of our collaborative endeavour. Please get in touch if you would like to work with us.

Joint Directors; Jessica Walker and Luke Styles

As co-creators, Jess and Luke have created a series of works for the stage, including Jephthah’s Daughter (Wigmore Hall), The People’s Cabaret (Brighton Festival/Norfolk and Norwich Festival/ O festival Rotterdam), Voices of Power (Three Choirs Festival/Philharmonia Orchestra). As producers they have been responsible for Unborn in America (Vaults Festival), Shorts Amorpha (BFI/Kings Place), The Deal Festival (2023-2025), Students Create Festival at the Royal Academy of Music (2022-25)

More about Luke

Luke Styles is an internationally acclaimed composer and artistic director, deeply entrenched in the global landscape of the arts, and with eight operas showcased with renowned companies - Glyndebourne, RBO, Perth Festival, Sydney Chamber Opera, Opera Philadelphia and Chautauqua Opera Festival. His compositions resonate on an international scale. As both composer and through his role as the artistic director of the Deal Festival/Deal Music and Arts, he has curated a diverse spectrum of events, forging lasting partnerships with orchestras (Philharmonia, LPO, Britten Sinfonia, ECO, LSO, BBCNOW, SSO), theatre companies, bands, visual artists, film makers, and festivals worldwide. Collaboration lies at the heart of his practice, as evidenced by his close work with artistic director colleagues (at Lichfield Festival, Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Brighton Festival, O-Fest Rotterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Aldeburgh Festival, Presteigne Festival, Perth Festival, Oulu Festival and Cheltenham Festival). He has worked closely with directors (Ted Huffman, Stephen Langridge, Imara Savage), designers, conductors (Vladimir Jurowski, Rumon Gamba, Robin Ticciati, Fiona Mobet) and choreographers (Pilobolus, Ilona Jantti) ensuring that his artistic vision remains at the forefront of international trends and innovation.. https://www.lukestyles.com

More about Jess

Jess Walker is a singer, stage writer and educator with extensive knowledge of young compositional talent through her work in as senior lecturer and Lead in Artist Development at the Royal Academy of Music. In addition to co-running new opera schemes at the Academy, including one with Stephen Langridge, she also sources and mentors libretto writers from diverse backgrounds for an Opera Maker course with composer David Sawer, is the external examiner for Guildhall opera writing MA, and collaborates as a librettist with both early-stage and established composers.

Creating and performing genre-defying work since 2010, she has specialised in the celebration of marginalised voices and forgotten performance histories. From collaborations with iconic queer writer-director Neil Bartlett, to writing partnerships with international opera composers, Jessica’s stage work, in addition to her work with Luke, includes a new adaptation of Coming up for Air, premiering at Oper Leipzig in 2026 (composer Bernd Franke), and a triptych of new works about female impersonators through history, with a commission from Buxton International Opera Festival (composer Jasper Dommett). She was commissioned by Opera North and Leeds Playhouse to write a new play with songs for the Armistice Centenary. Her critically acclaimed play with songs about French singer Suzy Solidor, initially produced by the Royal Exchange Theatre, included a month-long run in New York that was critic’s pick in the New York Times.  www.jessicawalker.net