Stephen Fry has been named as the curator of an annual opera festival. The actor and comedian will take the helm at this year’s Deloitte Ignite festival which will explore the work of composers Verdi and Wagner.

The event, which includes a one-man show by Simon Callow, features a Wagner-inspired installation in Covent Garden created by Es Devlin who designed the London 2012 closing ceremony and worked on Take That’s spectacular Progress tour.

Callow’s show, Inside Wagner’s Head, sees the actor play the composer and follows his popular stage performances as Charles Dickens. Fry said he wanted to aid “the opening up of opera to as wide an audience as possible” and was “very proud and pleased” to be involved.