Multiple award nominations for HGO’s Monteverdi opera

Last November's sell-out production of L’incoronazione di Poppea, which was supported by a grant from Continuo Foundation, has received multiple nominations in the 2026 OffWestEnd Awards.

Nicknamed ‘The Offies’, finalists are chosen based on eight broad areas of ‘Exceptional Contribution’, embracing a ‘universal philosophy of excellence’ across several aspects of theatrical production: staging, performance, design, production, music, creation, inclusion and innovation.

‘A real treat with a cast of splendid young singers and players… Once again, HGO has produced a show that can stand proudly alongside those of much larger companies – an object lesson in how to present Baroque opera’

^{Owen Davies, Plays to See}

HGO, formerly known as Hampstead Garden Opera, stages first-class opera with talented young singers and players. Their fully-staged production of Claudio Monteverdi's final operatic masterpiece, with period-instrument band HGOAntiqua, received positive reviews across the board and has been nominated for four awards:

• Best Band/Music (Seb Gillot and HGOAntiqua)

• Best Opera Production (all cast, crew and musicians)

• Best Opera Staging (Ashley Pearson, director)

• Opera Performance (Theano Papadaki as Poppea)

HGO has received a number of Offie nominations in the past, for productions including Purcell's The Fairy Queen (2024), Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen (2022), Handel’s Partenope (2019) and Mozart’s Don Giovanni (2015).

David Conway, Chairman of HGO, comments:

‘We were particularly glad to do Poppea as it's a sort of sequel to Handel's 'Agrippina', which we did in 2023, also with the support of Continuo Foundation. We were delighted to invite the director of 'Agrippina' to take on 'Poppea', and we were all thrilled by the result. I thought the production, the singers and the HGOAntiqua Orchestra were all fabulous, and the nominations were richly deserved.’

The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on 30 March at Central Hall in Westminster, hosted by Divina De Campo. HGO's 2026 season includes Britten's The Rape of Lucretia (18–26 April) and Bellini's La sonnambula (November).

Want to read more? Enjoy our Artist Spotlight with nominee Seb Gillot here: In conversation: Seb Gillot