Benjamin Britten coast close to Britten's homeland, awakened in him such longings for England that he knew he must return. He also knew that he must write an opera based on Crabbe's poem about the fisherman Peter Grimes. Before Britten left the US, Koussevitzky, always generous in encouraging new talent, offered him a $1,000 commission to write the opera. Britten and Pears returned to England in April 1942. During the long transatlantic sea crossing Britten completed the choral works "A Ceremony of Carols" and "Hymn to St Cecilia". The latter was his last large-scale collaboration with Auden. Britten had grown away from
NI Opera 2011. In March 2012 NI Opera toured a new production of "The Turn of the Screw" by Benjamin Britten which travelled to the Buxton Festival in July 2012. The cast included Fiona Murphy, Andrew Tortise, Giselle Allen and Yvonne Howard with Nicholas Chalmers conducting. The production was designed by Omagh-born Annemarie Woods, winner of the Ring And European Opera Awards 2011. The production subsequently travelled to Novaya Opera Theatre, Moscow in August 2014. 2012 – 2013 season The 2012–13 season was launched in June 2012 and it included five world premieres of works by Northern Irish composers: Brian Irvine, Deirdre