Welsh National Opera cancels shows after £2m funding cut

THE Welsh National Opera has become the first opera company to cancel concerts after large cuts to music budgets by Arts Council England (ACE).

The arts quango last week took the decision to axe £16million of funding from opera, with companies including English National Opera (ENO), the Royal Opera House, and Glyndebourne suffering cuts.

The Welsh National Opera (WNO) said that losing a third of its £6 million funding had left it with “no option”. The company has cancelled Liverpool shows for Mozart’s Magic Flute and the contemporary opera Blaze of Glory!

“We have had to make the very difficult decision to remove Liverpool from our touring programme,” Aidan Lang, WNO general director, said. “The reality of this means that we have no option but to make cost savings and this will result in difficult decisions.”

The WNO receives funding from the Arts Councils of England and Wales to provide large-scale opera, concerts and outreach work. The company has said it faces a £2.2 million (35 per cent) reduction in its funding from ACE, and will now receive around £4million.

The ENO has lost the entirety of its £12 million allocation, prompting fears for the future of the company.

Darren Henley, head of ACE, said that the move could force opera out of London to a broader audience. “A new generation of audiences is embracing opera and music theatre presented in new ways: opera in car parks, opera in pubs, opera on your tablet,” he said.