Something to sing about
Glyndebourne’s Sarah Hopwood sounds an optimistic note for the opera
In the grounds of Glyndebourne opera house in East Sussex, the mercury is knocking on 33 degrees Celsius, and the air above the picture-perfect lawn is shimmering. Since 1934, the mansion house and theatre has been known as the country getaway of the opera-loving elite, with founder John Christie imposing a black-tie dress code to show respect to the singers. So, what should a visitor wear to Glyndebourne in a heatwave?
Sarah Hopwood, newly installed managing director of the company, suggests that the rules can be relaxed: “People can take off their jackets,” she says. Indeed, perspiring visitors in their shirtsleeves are dotted around the bars and gift shop ahead of that evening’s performance – which, by tradition, starts at around 5pm. Hopwood says Glyndebourne “absolutely doesn’t insist on black tie; we say we ‘encourage’.” And the “New” Opera House – in fact 24 years old but looking brand new – is fully airconditioned.
Most guests are comfortable with the dress code, Hopwood says, even as Britain swelters through one of its hottest summers in decades. “Audiences rather like it. It makes it more of an event,” she says. “Because we start in the afternoon, it’s a long dwell time, people really plan their visit.”
Glyndebourne, nestled in the rolling South Downs next to the town of Lewes, would still be recognisable to a visitor from 70 years ago. But as a privately funded endeavour, Britain’s third largest opera company faces numerous challenges to stay in the black. How is Hopwood planning to steer it towards its 100th anniversary and ensure it keeps up with the times?
Hopwood admits she comes from a “London, City, non-arts background” but has “always had a passion for opera”. She recalls her father’s performances in the Wilmslow Opera Group at Knutsford when she was a child. As a teenager, she sang in a chorus “with no talent whatsoever”, and played viola and guitar “for many years after I should have given up”. Instead, Hopwood found that her talents gravitated towards maths, so she studied economics and accounting before joining Deloitte.
Her career as a chartered accountant took her to Hong Kong and United News and Media, now UBM. Upon returning to the UK, Hopwood saw an advert for finance director at Glyndebourne, and realised her true calling. “It felt like it was absolutely the dream job for me,” she says.
“I had to weigh up moving into a different sector; it really was taking a left turn. But it was more important to be doing something I was absolutely passionate about. If I didn’t give it a go, whoever took the job then would probably be in it for the next 20 years.”
Hopwood fulfilled her own prophecy, joining Glyndebourne in 1997 as finance director; she has been there ever since. In May, she was promoted to the new role of MD, as executive chairman Gus Christie – the grandson of Glyndebourne’s founder – decided to split the top job in two. The other role, that of artistic director, is currently vacant.
The management reshuffle came about because Glyndebourne’s previous general manager, Sebastian Schwarz, abruptly quit last December after just two years. Hopwood denies there was a bust-up: “He came very much from an artistic background and felt he didn’t have the time to dedicate to the artistic side of things,” she says. The board decided the executive structure was “unrealistic”, so Hopwood’s role has been carved out with the express purpose of managing the business side; she will, for now, retain her finance duties.
Glyndebourne, Hopwood notes, is a £30m turnover business, with 320 staff on average a week. It is a yearround operation, running the famous summer festival from May to August, an autumn tour (the 50th edition is this year), and an education programme. The only public funding it receives is £1.6m from the Arts Council that goes toward the tour and the school scheme. The rest it raises from ticket sales and memberships, both individual and corporate.
As such, a large part of Hopwood’s job from now on will be meeting and greeting Glyndebourne’s donors – though she winces at the term “schmoozing”. She visits the old green room – the space for entertaining blue-chip guests – three or four times a week, she says. Glyndebourne’s corporate members feature many of the FTSE 100’s biggest names. Members receive priority booking on tickets, around 80pc of which are sold ahead of the festival, with the rest held back for ordinary punters.
Hopwood’s reflections on stepping into the top job chime with succession challenges at other organisations. “It is sometimes harder to move into a new job in an organisation you know very well,” she says. “MD is a much more visible role. I’ve had to make sure I spend time in the company and get to know people well. As finance director I slightly felt people might feel somewhat threatened to be visited by me. Likewise with donors: as finance director, they immediately think you’re after their money!”
Hopwood is “itching” for the new artistic director, whoever he or she may be, to start work, so that the festival can begin looking ahead to 2034. “It’s not far off in corporate planning terms,” she insists. “What do we want Glyndebourne to look like after 100 years?” Somewhat awkwardly, Schwarz has planned the seasons up until 2021, so the next incumbent will have to wait a while to express their vision.
However, this long-term planning is key to Glyndebourne’s survival, Hopwood says. “We’re in a very, very good place, but we have to have incredibly strong financial discipline.” As a registered charity, Glyndebourne looks to cover its costs and build up a surplus that can be used in a “worst case scenario”, for example if the summer festival is cancelled. From this cash reserve it is funding a £6m production hub, which will be completed next year. This will include a new prop store, wardrobe department and rehearsal rooms. Further investments will soon be needed for the 1,200-seat New House, to upgrade its equipment.
“All of that is 25 years old. Over that time technology has changed; industry practice has changed,” Hopwood notes.
Contracting artists four years ahead could be seen as risky, as there is no guarantee of income until closer to the time; festival tickets go on sale to
‘There’s no right or wrong thing to do … we just have to make sure that when people come they have a great time’
members in December. A four-year view on planning means more expensive productions can be shuffled around from year to year to balance the budget. But Hopwood admits: “It’s not a secret we do not pay the highest fees and we’re competing for artists with other international festivals like Aix and Salzburg.”
To attract the best singers it can, Glyndebourne has to “ensure the experience when they get here is the best”. The stars are often housed in the Grade Ii-listed country house next to the theatre. They also benefit from Glyndebourne’s in-house specialists in language and singing, and a longer rehearsal time than at other companies; this can help them learn a new role. Glyndebourne’s chorus is “our youth squad”, Hopwood adds, providing future stars who often “come back out of loyalty”.
Glyndebourne is alive to the risks it faces if it does not evolve: Hopwood warns against “complacency”. “Twenty years ago members would have come to all six of our summer productions whereas now, on average, they are coming to two.” This is simply due to more choice, she says: competition from other country house operas and music festivals.
“Also with digital technology we all know it’s very easy to access a broad range of entertainment and we can’t compete with that.”
Surely Glyndebourne does not see Netflix as a threat? “Luckily not yet,” Hopwood replies. “But we see it as a risk. Technology is both a risk and an opportunity.” In the latter regard, the company has teamed up with Picturehouse Cinemas and The Daily Telegraph to stream live and recorded performances of its operas, and it has put short films on its website to reveal more about its work.
Hopwood hopes these efforts will tackle Glyndebourne’s other major challenge: that younger people will simply resist its allure.
“It’s important to us that opera is accessible to all,” she says. “If people grow up never having been to opera, they build this misconception that it is not for them.” The education programme helps, as does its under30s scheme, which offers steep discounts on tickets that can go for £200 or more full price. First-timers should also “choose the right opera for the right experience, because we do push the boundaries, we do take artistic risks”, she says.
Of the current season, Hopwood recommends Glyndebourne’s productions of Madame Butterfly and Saul to new visitors. She wants the experience to be as “easy as possible”, with the company laying on buses from the train station and friendly front of house staff on hand to help. Most guests choose to picnic in the grounds during the long 90-minute interval, or else in the restaurants.
“There’s no right or wrong thing to do…we just have to make sure that when people come here they have a really great time and want to come back.”
As she reflects on her goals for the coming years, Hopwood harks back to John Christie’s mission statement for the company, which he created with his wife, the singer Audrey Mildmay, when the operas were first performed in Glyndebourne’s Organ Room – still open to visitors. “Our aspiration is to do not the best we can do, but the best that can be done anywhere,” Hopwood says. “There’s a real pride in that.”