West Australian Opera has just unveiled its 2026 season, and I’ll say this upfront: it’s the most interesting programming I’ve seen from the company in years. Artistic Director Chris van Tuinen appears to be making a decisive move away from safe repertoire choices toward something bolder, more varied, and more deliberately Western Australian.

Let me walk you through what they’ve announced and why it matters.

The season at a glance

WASO’s 2026 lineup includes six mainstage productions — up from four in recent years — plus a chamber opera series and an expanded regional touring program. The headlines:

Verdi’s Otello opens the season in March. This is a big swing. Otello requires a heldentenor of exceptional power and stamina, and it’s notoriously difficult to cast domestically. WASO has secured South African tenor Lukhanyo Moyake for the title role, a casting choice that’s both artistically exciting and culturally significant — Verdi’s Otello is a Moor, and productions that cast the role with a Black singer bring an authenticity that blackface-era productions always lacked.

Britten’s The Turn of the Screw arrives in May, a psychological chamber opera that’s a fascinating departure from WASO’s usual Puccini-and-Verdi comfort zone. It’s intimate, unsettling, and brilliant — one of Britten’s finest works, and one that’s perfectly suited to the smaller His Majesty’s Theatre.

A world premiere by Perth-based composer Cat Hope arrives in August. Details are being kept under wraps, but Hope is known for her experimental approach, working with graphic notation and electronic elements. This will be the first fully commissioned world premiere by WASO in over a decade. That alone is worth celebrating.

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in October is the accessible crowd-pleaser, and smartly programmed as counter-balance to the season’s more adventurous choices. You need a Butterfly or a Bohème to keep the subscription numbers healthy. No shame in that.

Handel’s Giulio Cesare rounds out the mainstage season in November, featuring countertenor Max Emanual Cenčić in the title role. Baroque opera in Perth? Yes, and it’s about time. Handel is criminally underperformed in Australia, and Giulio Cesare is one of his most theatrically exciting works.

The regional push

What genuinely impresses me is the expanded regional commitment. WASO is taking a specially designed touring production — a 90-minute adaptation of The Barber of Seville — to Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Bunbury, Albany, and Broome between April and September.

Getting opera to regional Western Australia is a logistical challenge that makes touring in the eastern states look easy. The distances are enormous. Venues vary wildly. Audiences may have never seen a live opera before. But WASO has secured additional touring funding from the WA Government’s regional arts program, and they’re partnering with local community organisations in each town.

This matters. Perth is already isolated from the eastern seaboard opera circuit. Regional WA is isolated from Perth. If you believe opera should be for everyone — and I do — then the work of getting it outside the capital city is essential.

Why this season is different

Several things stand out about this programming compared to WASO’s recent history.

First, the range. Going from Handel to Cat Hope in a single season is ambitious. It says the company is confident its audience will follow them across styles and centuries. That’s a bet, and it’s one I think will pay off if the marketing matches the ambition.

Second, the Australian content. A world premiere is a significant investment for a mid-sized company. Opera Australia commissions new works semi-regularly, but for state companies with smaller budgets, a premiere is a major statement of intent. WASO is saying they want to be part of creating the repertoire, not just performing it.

Third, the casting. Bringing in international artists like Moyake and Cenčić alongside local talent suggests a company that’s thinking about artistic quality first and working backward to the budget, rather than the reverse.

The financial picture

Let’s be realistic: this season costs more than WASO’s recent output. More productions, more international artists, more regional touring. The company’s annual budget is significantly smaller than Opera Australia’s, and every dollar matters.

WASO’s executive director has pointed to a combination of increased state government support (see my earlier piece on 2026 funding announcements), a successful major donor campaign, and a restructured sponsorship model as the financial foundations. They’ve also noted that the expanded season should generate more ticket revenue to offset the increased costs.

It’s the right approach: grow the output, grow the audience, grow the revenue base. Standing still in Australian opera is a recipe for slow decline.

What I’m watching for

A bold season announcement is one thing. Execution is another. I’ll be watching for audience response to the less familiar repertoire, the critical reception of the Cat Hope premiere, and — most importantly — whether the regional touring builds genuine new audiences or just ticks a funding acquittal box.

WASO has traditionally been the quietest of Australia’s opera companies. This season feels like a company finding its voice. That’s exciting for Perth, and it should be exciting for opera lovers nationally. When one company raises its ambitions, it lifts the standard everywhere.

I’ll be in Perth for the Otello opening in March. If the performance matches the promise of this announcement, West Australian Opera might just be the company to watch in 2026.