ENO. Levelling up.Move to Manchester? #LoveENO

I wasn't shocked at ENO losing funding but I am shocked at the suggestion it moves to Manchester. As for touring, haven't the main opera companies pretty much divvied up the UK's cities between them? How would slapping ENO on top of the existing arrangements work out?

More stuff in Manc. Yay. 👍🏻🎉 🥳

The success of My Fair Lady at the Coliseum might give us a clue about the future of this huge theatre - imports and big ‘uns at that. It is a lovely theatre in many way, lux foyers and impressive interiors but very little modern stuff is suitable. It is really a musicals venue, an opera venue. Would be nice to see opera from other nations and big classy musical productions…

Considering the weight of the issue I thought it might be good to have its own thread so it does not get mixed up in Yeoman reviews 

Mods - please could you move some of the Leveling up over from the ENO 2022 / 2023 thread - thanks. And sorry as it was me that starting posting there in the first place - thanks 

Below is the interesting text of an email from the Chief Exec 

Hi everyone,



First of all, I want to apologise if you received a garbled message from either myself or Andrew Given on Friday. We had a technical issue with our email mailing system, which sent the paragraphs out in the wrong order.



On Friday 4 November, Arts Council England announced that they would no longer be funding the ENO from April.



We had applied for a total of £37.8m (£12.6m a year – the same funding we currently receive) to cover our work between 2023 and 2026. Just for your information for every £1 we receive from Arts Council England, we generate £2 – so it’s quite a good return for them.

As you know, our work includes:

• World-class opera for everyone, sung in English, on the stage of the London Coliseum, to an annual audience of over 160,000

• Providing an outstanding experience to the 500,000 annual visitors to the London Coliseum – who come to everything from ballet to comedy

• ENO Breathe, our programme that supports Long-Covid patients with tools to help their breathing, using techniques from opera. We currently work in partnership with over 80 NHS Trusts across the entire of the UK, reaching 1,800 patients - and counting. And it’s completely free of charge for people.

• Working with schools and communities, reaching over 283,000 young people across the entire of the UK

• Offering training, professional development and mentoring to hundreds of musicians at the start of their careers



The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport along with Arts Council England issued guidance a few months ago suggesting that London-based organisations should work towards presenting 15% of their work to audiences outside of London. We had embraced that guidance and suggested a plan that would exceed this expectation.



We also specifically asked them if they wished for us to move out of London, and got a very clear “no” back from them.



Despite our plan, the Arts Council have decided that we will no longer be one of their “National Portfolio Organisations” with regular funding. Instead, they have offered us the possibility of up to £17m in “transition funding” over three years, but only on the condition that we move outside of London, whilst still operating the London Coliseum. They suggested that we make our new home in Manchester, as part of the UK Government’s Levelling-Up agenda.



The public announcement was made by the Arts Council on Friday 4 November, with us only having been told 24 hours before, so it’s fair to say we were utterly dismayed. Arts Council hadn’t consulted with anyone in Manchester – not even the venue they were suggesting we use as our home – they hadn’t consulted with Opera North (who currently perform in Manchester), and there is no research or feasibility study on whether there is a need or appetite for the ENO in Manchester. All this is important, as opera needs fundraising to survive; to seeing whether there is fundraising capacity and appetite for opera in a city is key to its sustainability.



The outpouring of support from many of you has been overwhelming, with so many emails, phone calls and messages, and I cannot thank you all enough. As we often say, the feeling of support from you all is one of the absolute joys of working at the ENO, and is keenly felt by us all.

I’d like to take this opportunity to update you on a few things:

• Arts Council have not given us enough time or financial resource to relocate the ENO to another city, risking the livelihood of over 300 full-time musicians, singers and technical staff. We have only been given 20 weeks to start a re-location.



• To re-establish a similar sized audience in another city will also take time – and the Arts Council’s suggestion of Manchester is already well-served by Opera North, whom, just like us, have not been consulted.



• We are of course extremely grateful for their proposed investment of up to £17m (£5.6m a year for three years); this represents a 55% cut in our current funding level – which does not mirror the 15% levelling up figure that Arts Council and Department for Culture had highlighted. However this not a firm commitment and – judging by the behaviour of the Arts Council when we have exceeded our commitments in the current funding period – we are unsure of how much of this will actually come our way.



• We are asking that we retain our current funding level for the next three years so that we can continue to reshape what a modern opera company looks like – balancing mainstage grand scale opera at the Coliseum with more work out of London, as set out in our Arts Council funding application. We believe in the levelling up agenda and would be very keen to do this, but only with a strong London base. That’s the only way an out-of-London opera story can take place.



I also want to address that some journalists have suggested that when I announced on 19 October that I was stepping down as CEO from the ENO, that I was already aware of this funding decision. I want to make it clear to everyone that I did not know. I am as devastated as the rest of the company.

What you can do to help

I’d now like to ask for your support in campaigning to the Arts Council and the Department for Culture to allow us more time to plan and deliver such a significant change to our funding and location. We’re calling this campaign #LoveENO.



Please could you take a moment out of your day to do one or all of the following:



1. Please sign our online petition, launched by Sir Bryn Terfel and tell the world why you #LoveENO. Sign the petition, and share it with everyone you know.



2. Please email Julian Knight MP, Chair of the DCMS Select Committee, asking him to challenge Arts Council’s decision. His address is julian.knight.mp@parliament.uk.



3. Please write to your local MP. You can find a template of the letter, and how to find contact details of your local MP on our website. View the template and find the contact details.



I know that you will share our shock, and our pain, and want to assure you that our current season will continue as planned, so please do continue supporting us by watching our brilliant season of opera at the London Coliseum. We want to continue to show that we matter – to you, to the London arts ecology and the national and international one.



I’m sure you’ll understand that my inbox is a bit crazy at the moment, so I’ve asked Andrew Given, our Development Director, to handle any replies to this email. Please don’t think it rudeness on my part. We are all hands-on-deck to get this decision overruled so we can all continue to do what we do brilliantly – making incredible opera for everyone.



With love as ever from all of us at the ENO,



Stuart

Chief Executive

link to letter template

www.eno.org/support-us/how-you-can-help/?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=221108_Members_Supporters_ACE_Followup&utm_term=View+the+template+and+find+the+contact+details&utm_id=219020&utm_source=sfmc&utm_term=View+the+template+and+find+the+contact+details&utm_content=86551&utm_id=b782e774-c01e-482f-be15-962cb43808b6&sfmc_activityid=04153e28-8e89-4d0e-b8a6-6ce61c127d45&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=221108_Members_Supporters_ACE_Followup&sfmc_journey_id=b782e774-c01e-482f-be15-962cb43808b6&sfmc_journey_name=221180A_ECU_dpta_eeMbmreSspuoptrreSsatekohdlres&sfmc_activity_id=04153e28-8e89-4d0e-b8a6-6ce61c127d45&sfmc_activity_name=221180M_meebsrS_puoptrre_sCA_EoFllwopu&sfmc_asset_id=86551&sfmc_channel=email

Which Manchester venue is it? 

I dont think they a venue

That's being operated by Manchester International Festival, can't imagine they'd want ENO.

I recently saw the new Knives Out with English subtitles switched on! No surprise didn't enjoy the film.

It reminded me that at ENO the Surtitle,s when people are singing in English just don't work. All timing is out.
I'm sure I enjoyed the ROH and other OL venues just as much before Surtitles, a quick read of the synopsis and the music conveyed all the meaning I need.
The ENO worked for me best before they introduced surtitles. It's an institution that has lost its way. Despite the fact it was where I developed my first love for Opera, where I've been attending for over 40 years and seen hundreds of Opera's, I can't make a case for it to continue as it presently works.
Or rather doesn't.

Sadly the Coliseum is just too large for the Company to reinvent itself.  The only voices we hear are clamouring for it to continue much as before, and this has been going on regularly for well over a decade. Radical change is needed.

Thanks for sharing and I agree sounds positive.

As central and as accesible as the Coli is I can't think they would be better placed at Sadlers Wells or similar. Also, please don't sing everything in English. ...this is good chance to shake things up and bring about positive change, must stop moaning as it sounds good 👍