{"id":21305,"date":"2022-11-04T15:34:45","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T14:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=174915"},"modified":"2022-11-04T15:54:12","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T14:54:12","slug":"english-national-opera-major-funding-cut-may-force-move-to-manchester","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/english-national-opera-major-funding-cut-may-force-move-to-manchester\/","title":{"rendered":"English National Opera: major funding cut may force move to Manchester"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Steve Wright\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 04 November 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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English National Opera<\/a> is to lose its \u00a312.6 million core annual funding from Arts Council England<\/a> as of 2023. The drastic cut is part of a major funding shake-up for the company, which may have to consider a future outside London.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ENO, Britain\u2019s only full-time repertory opera company, will no longer receive the substantial annual payout. Instead, there will be a payment of \u00a317 million spread over a three-year period, to help the company \u2018develop a new business model\u2019. This includes a suggestion that ENO move from its traditional base at the London Coliseum to a new home in Manchester.<\/p>\n

Arts Council England uses money from the government and the National Lottery to support arts and culture across the nation. The biggest overhaul of English arts funding for years, the current funding changes \u2013 effective from April 2023 until 2026 \u2013 will see millions of pounds of arts funding moved away from London and into the various regions.<\/p>\n

Around 20 per cent of the money currently earmarked for institutions in the capital will be allocated elsewhere by 2026. This change will have a profound impact on ENO and other large, London-based arts organisations such as the National Theatre and Southbank Centre<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The funding cut will have a major impact on ENO\u2019s activities. The company\u2019s current \u00a312.6 million annual allocation represents more than double the box office income earned during the year before COVID.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Arts Council England chair Sir Nick Serota maintains that there are \u2018opportunities that exists for English National Opera to become a different kind of company working across the country.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2018They are capable of responding, in our view,\u2019 he continues. \u2018They\u2019ve got great leadership. They have great achievement, and there seems to us to be an opportunity here that we should grasp.\u2019<\/p>\n