CHOSE OPERA, The People of ENO.
#loveENO
In response to the drastic funding cuts to English National Opera, November 2022.
You don’t have to love opera, singing, music, or even Gilbert and Sullivan to love ENO. An opera company that is so much more than just Opera. From COVID-19 recovery to school music-making and training, to all kinds of accessible musicking, young artist support, free under 21’s tickets, under 35(!) scheme, and yes; world-class opera.
The people below are a small handful of the talented ENO company, working at the top of the game. These funding cuts are not just cuts to another company, but the livelihood of many people, and Opera that is at the forefront of its field.
When I first found out the horrible news I cried for the rest of the day with fear for mine and my colleagues futures. I was at home when my boss rang me to tell me the news. I am very angry and disappointed. I feel thoroughly let down by the Arts Council’s decision. With our petition and press I am beginning to feel hopeful that the Arts Council may change their mind however I am scared of the potential disappointment. I feel they see us as just a number and not 300 highly skilled people whose livelihoods are at risk. The timing is just awful too.
There are so many reasons why ENO is essential. Our free tickets for under 21s is amazing which is attracting a new and younger audience to experience and enjoy Opera. We sing in English which makes it really accessible to everybody. Our relaxed performances are brilliant. We had such fun on The Yeoman of the Guard last week. We lead in diversity, 1 in 5 principle singers and also the most diverse full time chorus and orchestra in the country. Our Harewood Artist scheme supports young singers starting off their careers.
-Taylor Rands, Wigs and Make-up Technician.
My first experience with ENO's costume department was actually as a volunteer scrub maker during the pandemic - I remember being so impressed at how organised and efficient the team were despite all the lockdown restrictions! I joined the company in September last year as a Wardrobe Show Manager. My role involves managing the dressing team backstage, helping with costume changes, and making sure the costumes are laundered, repaired and stay to a high standard throughout performances. I also pack the costumes up at the end of the run, and it always amazes me how many places around the world our shows get sent to - USA, Canada, Spain, Latvia - we really do have a global reach!
I think you only have to witness a relaxed performance here to realise how important the ENO is and what makes us so different to other arts organisations. The accessibility of our productions is something we should be very proud of as a company - it's so important that everyone has the opportunity to come and see, or take part in, great art!
-Carly Warwick, Wardrobe Show Manager.
I’m Section Principal Percussionist in the ENO Orchestra. Basically, that means I’m in charge of playing and organising everything to do with the instruments we hit, bang, clash, scrape and much more. I joined in 1988 so celebrate 35 years at ENO in January 2023. I’d love to do 40!!
A colleague texted me directing me to the company email. Initially I was stunned, there was no suggestion that the cut would be anywhere like 100%. When it sank in, I got scared. Talk of moving to Manchester or even redundancy is unbelievably unsettling when your whole life is centred around your work and living with access to it. Covid hit the freelance music scene hard so the potential prospect of joining the freelance pool is daunting. Both my kids are still in education and the thought of not providing properly for them gives me sleepless nights.
It’s ridiculous. ACE doesn’t appear to have a plan and there’s been no consultation, there’s certainly no concern about the welfare of the employees and freelance community who depend on ENO for a livelihood. It’s devastating to think that the world class opera we produce could disappear, let alone all the other brilliant initiatives ENO spearheads.
Last week I showed some young kids how to play the cymbals, the smile on their faces was infectious; later that day I chatted to 2 octogenarian audience members who loved the show and particularly the orchestra; the next day I worked on a contemporary opera featuring a truly diverse cast and later on received an email from a grateful teacher extolling the brilliant “Finish This” education package ENO have shared with 5000 school kids and counting. It’s well publicised that we offer free and very cheap tickets, we have an audience that is younger and more diverse than most and the performance levels are consistently brilliant. So why would anyone want to jeopardise all that?
I love my job and I love ENO and what it stands for, that’s why this proposed cultural vandalism hurts EVERYONE so much.
-Mick Doran, Section Principal Percussionist, ENO Orchestra.
I think like many others my first reaction to the announcement was shock. We were braced for some cut in funding, but we never expected this outcome. I received the news onstage whilst rehearsing the flying for It’s A Wonderful Life, and I looked round at my technical colleagues, some of whom I’ve worked with for twenty years, as they and I realised that everything we have worked so hard for could very soon be over.
In the days immediately following the announcement I was deeply saddened by the impact that it was having on my friends and colleagues right across the company, I think it is fair to say we were devastated. However, this company is extraordinary in its unique ability to be able to work together, both in good times and bad, and in the last week we have joined forces to fight this decision from all angles. More than ever, I feel an immense sense of pride to say that I work for ENO.
I have worked at ENO for twenty years - I started as an Assistant Stage Manager in 2002 on our production of Ariodante and this year became Head of Stage Management. It is a great joy and privilege to be able to lead a department of world-class stage management working with our incredible chorus, orchestra, and technical departments.
ENO is truly a company that believes its own messaging. Ask anyone in the company and they will tell you that they believe in our mission to deliver opera - sung, played, produced, built, lit, shared and marketed with excellence - to everyone. We will continue to fight to make our work accessible and available, both in London and across the country, to demonstrate that anyone and everyone is welcome here.
- Rosie Davis, Head of Stage Management.
I’ve been a member of the ENO’s Chorus for around nine years now. I have worked so hard to have secured one of the few full-time jobs that exist for professional singers in the UK. To have this stable job - with colleagues I love and work we are so proud to produce - threatened to be pulled from under us, is a huge shock. Our training is so specific, and I have two children, so a change of career or a move away from London would be very challenging.
On a less personal level, I think if the ENO is threatened with closure because of these major funding cuts, it would be a huge loss, not just to our regular audience but to the wider community. I don’t think there are any other theatres that offer free tickets to under 21s.
Our outreach to schools across the country is so important as so many children get so little music in their schools, and our long-covid programme ENO Breathe does such wonderful work in the wider community.
-Jo Appleby, ENO Chorus.
I have been working here as a Moving Light Technician and Follow Spot Operator for the past 16 years. ENO is not just a workplace for many of us, I call it the ENO family.
ENO is a great company that creates a range of opportunities by making opera accessible for all and I can also say it is one of the biggest diverse opera companies I have ever seen. When I say making opera accessible for all, not to forget the free tickets for under 21s, giving people the chance to come and see our work for the company and also not to forget the great productions we put on year after year. This is why the Arts Council should change their mind.
-Patrick Achegani, Lighting.
Cellist, Orchestra Fellowship for Ethnically Diverse Players 2021-23. I am treated as part of the cello section for the duration. ENO invests in future - The company understands where I am in my career and is flexible so I can keep up with my freelance work with other orchestras and ensembles, which I am most grateful.
ENO belongs at the London Coliseum where it serves thousands of audiences and the arts’ ecosystem in the capital. Everyone at the ENO believes more opera outside London is fantastic but fund termination and relocation of ENO will not achieve it. Instead, hundreds of jobs and a vast amount of freelancers’ work for the nation’s best musicians/designers/technicians etc will be lost and it will put existing regional and touring companies at huge risk - precisely the opposite of what the ACE exists for.
-Tamaki Sugimoto, Cellist, ENO Orchestra, ENO Strings Fellow.
Gutted. I’ve been here for 30 years. It made me feel really upset. I first heard it on the news. I still feel let down by the Arts Council. I don’t think they realise the impact this has on people’s lives.
i’m a Senior Flys Tech. I run the fly rail on shows and changeovers, rigging the motors. This is a cutting edge company trying new and exciting productions, bringing opera to everyone.
-Steven Davey, Senior Flys Technician.
[Having had time to reflect, the fear and worry hasn’t abated. As a father of two young girls under five, with a partner working part-time, I am extremely concerned about the situation. Of what it probably means for my family and the prospects for my professional future, especially in the current economic climate. Things would have been tough even with a job. But without one, who knows?
I’m a member of the full-time Chorus of ENO. A position I’m incredibly proud and fortunate to hold. It’s a very tough schedule; rehearsing musically and in production several operas concurrently, sometimes two or three different operas in a day. There is a lot of music and staging to commit to memory!
I believe ENO to be a hugely integral part of the cultural fabric of our Capital and of the nation. We put on opera of the highest standard on stage, backstage, and in the pit. To remove ENO from the West End and, indeed, the cultural landscape of the nation would be a tragedy, not least for the hundreds of jobs, but for the country as a whole.
-John Gyeantey, ENO Chorus.