BBC Philharmonic Orchestra 2026/27 Season Einstein on the Beach

“The distinction between past, present and future is… a stubbornly persistent illusion.” – Albert Einstein

Over a century ago, Albert Einstein changed how we see the universe through the power of human imagination, with his novel ideas on space, time and quantum physics. Fifty years ago, Philip Glass and Robert Wilson revolutionised opera with Einstein on the Beach, blowing open the possibilities of the genre by incorporating experimental music and theatre. Now, Einstein on the Beach is transformed again with a once-in-a-lifetime experiential staging presented by English National Opera and Factory International.
A collision of artforms – music and theatre, live art and light, sculpture and movement – Einstein on the Beach invites you to enter a 360-degree world where Einstein’s ideas and Glass’s music are felt all around you. Vast in scale, it encompasses a huge cast of vocalists, instrumentalists, actors and movement artists, including local performers from across Greater Manchester.

With this ambitious new staging, Phelim McDermott – acclaimed director and co-founder of Improbable – completes the Glass Portrait Trilogy. Having directed Satyagraha in 2026 and the Grammy and Olivier Award-winning production of Akhnaten in 2016 for English National Opera, he then collaborated with Philip Glass on the critically acclaimed MIF19 stage production Tao of Glass. Now, over 20 years since meeting Philip Glass, McDermott returns to the beginning, taking on the challenge of Glass’s epic first opera.

For Einstein on the Beach, McDermott is joined by designer Tom Pye, his collaborator on Akhnaten and the West End hit My Neighbour Totoro. Conducted by Brad Lubman, The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra return to Aviva Studios after their collaboration with ENO and Factory International on the genre-defying opera Angel’s Bone. With a powerhouse vocal ensemble – a collaboration between the Chorus of ENO and Kantos Chamber Choir – they bring Glass’s athletic, minimalist score to life.

Rarely performed at full-scale in its entirety, Einstein on the Beach is an experiment in human creativity – a testament to the power of ideas that change the world. Leave any preconceptions at the door and take a quantum leap of faith.

Times
Saturday 29 – Monday 31 May: 3pm
Wednesday 2 – Friday 4 June: 6pm
Saturday 5 June and Sunday 6 June: 3pm
Tuesday 8, Wednesday 9 and Friday 11 June: 6pm
Saturday 12 June: 3pm

Commissioned and Produced by English National Opera, Factory International, Park Avenue Armory and Improbable (in association with Scene and Heni Koenigsberg Productions LLC). In partnership with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

Photo credit: render – Jake Harris