The Arts Council is wrong to abandon English National Opera

Last week Stuart Murphy, chief executive of English National Opera (ENO), and I were summoned to the offices of the Arts Council, less than 24 hours before they were due to announce their latest funding round. We were told that all funding for the ENO was to be removed after 1 April 2023. A national institution approaching its centenary is no longer welcome in the National Portfolio. This decision immediately affects the livelihood of hundreds of loyal, committed and talented people at the London Coliseum. It is an understatement to say that we were stunned, shocked and dismayed. It is still difficult to comprehend.

There followed a discussion about what a reconfigured ENO might be, out of London. Manchester was unexpectedly mentioned. Unequivocally, this was not our idea. Furthermore, we are not aware of any stakeholder engagement with Manchester. Even with the proposed investment, this decision is precipitous in the extreme with only five months before Arts Council funding is to be withdrawn. An opera company is not built in a day. To use business-speak, this is a “start up”.

ENO holds both a national and international reputation for opera, and has done for many decades. The support from around the world over the weekend has been astonishing. The Arts Council acknowledged that “the quality of the company’s work is reflected in many awards and nominations”. Thirty thousand people have enjoyed Tosca and The Yeomen of the Guard since October. Top class opera companies plan and contract three years in advance.

We have affordable tickets: £10 for 10 per cent of the house and free tickets for the under-21s. The young travel to see us from Penrith to Penzance. We have a digital and broadcasting presence, and performances for those with accessibility requirements. Our national schools and community work has reached 5,000 children around the country. We are a diverse company onstage and offstage. ENO Breathe is treating 2,000 people struggling with long Covid across the country in more than 80 NHS Trusts.

Now is the time to pause. We want to retain our current funding level for the next three years, during which time we can continue to reshape what a modern opera company looks like, balancing main-stage grand-scale opera at the London Coliseum with out-of-london work as cogently set out in our Arts Council application.

Our submission was clear in our support for the levelling-up strategy. Alongside our presence at the London Coliseum, we detailed a comprehensive plan for nationwide reach. The Arts Council accepted that the “ENO makes a strong case that it has widened access and that it is changing to reflect the communities it serves”. It also referenced that “the major focus is on increasing out of London activity by 150 per cent of current levels by 2026 to establish ENO’S ‘national’ reach”.

In fact, we have received so much positive commentary, we simply do not understand what we have done wrong. We do not understand why we have been singled out for complete removal from the National Portfolio. A 90-yearold institution brought to a standstill in nine seconds. The company, management, and board are all devoted to ENO and will deliver. We are the national opera company for everyone.