Just in: Arts Council kills another opera company
NewsMessage from Mid Wales Opera:
We are deeply disappointed and indeed shocked at the news that – after 35 years of staging remarkable opera across the length and breadth of Wales – the Arts Council has decided not to offer us multi-annual funding. Obviously, we will be considering our next steps over the coming weeks. This will, however, be a hammer blow for the young artists who gain invaluable career development opportunities from working with us, as well as to audiences in towns and rural communities who have few, if any opportunities to experience live opera.
However, this decision has no direct impact on our exciting plans for the next few months which are fully funded. We look forward to welcoming audiences from Barmouth to Abergavenny and from Milford Haven to Bangor to our performances of Berlioz’s ‘Beatrice and Benedict’ (from 13 October to 10 November) and of Macbeth in February and March 2024′.
Gareth Williams
Chair, Mid Wales Opera
Mid Wales Opera was an outstanding nursery for young singing and directorial talent. It as been sacrificed on an altar of political dogma.
Another disaster for grass roots opera and classical music. So short-sighted in so many ways.
I thought the AC wanted to encourage opera outside of London.
This would come under the auspices of the Arts Council of Wales not England.
This is truly depressing news. Mid Wales Opera not only was (and continues to be) a crucible where new singing, directorial and design talent can be nurtured but also a serious company which takes opera to parts of Wales which other companies do not reach. I was lucky to have had opportunities, as a young designer, to work on the first four seasons of the company’s existence, when their ambition and energy were harnessed to a real artistic mission led by Keith Darlington and Barbara McGuire. They have continued bravely ever since with consistently high standards and clever, inventive management. Today, there a but few precious opportunities for up and coming artists to work in opera, and any threat to MWO is a grevious mistake. Let’s hope for either a reprieve or an enlightened sponsor who understands the company’s import and quality.
There will surely be a guardian angel to your rescue as you have such a magnificent reputation and fill the bill for superb performances over a large area of Wales for so many years…
Just wondering.
If they announced they were touring to London, would A.C.E. give them an increased grant?
Y7
Not up to ACE.
Is it political dogma? I do not know the background to this decision and the story does not offer it, or a link to it. Can you elaborate, or point the way? All you have provided is a financial decision — which, I agree, sounds disastrous and short-sighted. Good luck to the Mid Wales Opera.
I feel that the wording of this is slightly misleading – Arts Council Wales, which is overseen by the Welsh Gov is behind this cut, not Arts Council England (UK Gov) which over saw the ENO cuts in November last year. It’s worth noting that WNO had a cut of 10% this time round.
The personal impact on young artists forced into exile is incalculable. I watch helpless as a new grandmother how my son is torn between his necessary opera work abroad and his relationship with his baby in London. Needless to say, the mother is utterly unimpressed by the absences, poor income generation and insecure prospects.
Yup, we’ve all had to deal with it. Exile is often the only way to make a living. You either suck it up or change profession. The end.
Yes, that’s what I was going to say. Career change essential.
Might be worth clarifying that this is refers to Arts Council Wales, which is not the same as Arts Council England (who were responsible for ENO decision)..
The Arts Council hates western classical music. the long march through the institutions continues. What a future….
That must be why they spend the vast majority of the music budget on it then….
This is a real shame. We see Mid-Wales Opera whenever possible and they do great performances on a shoestring using talented young singers. They visit places where there is no other opera within reach and have an enthusiastic following.
Political dogma? Can you expand please.
Disgraceful!! Backward thinking. Tragedy.
Hi Ian
Please get in touch!!
R/E Scotopera 73-75
This is an appalling decision. Mid Wales Opera is quite unique in its excellence, and as others have said, provides training for up and coming performers, who have gone on to be stars of the opera world, such as Mary Plazas.
Just a sign of the times. Not hard to understand. The abundance of London audiences and their ability to pay far higher ticket prices is one thing, out of London is simply another. My whole season ticket from a seat in the highest circle of the Grand Theatre in Leeds for Opera North, has been upgraded to the stalls. Says it all. Lack of money everywhere.
Not entirely. Support for sport, ironically the most elitist area of all, is far in excess of the Arts. But you see politicians perceive sport as working class whereas the arts are posh !
Totally agree! This has vexed me for years.
So is the Welsh love of singing something to be ashamed of now?
It is a great tragedy to see what is happening to Welsh Opera but even more disturbing when you add it to all the other music organisations that are in trouble. Many now being sacrificed on the alter of “dumbing down”. High ideals, expectations and quality for which the UK is internationally renowned are being watered down in favour of appealing to the lowest, popularist demands..Lets have more screaming football, lets have less quality artistic endeavors, keep the masses from questioning what Whitehall is really up to – feathering the nests of the elite politicians..It’s the return of the Roman Empire!
Peter G
Absolutely spot on… the circuses stop people using brain cells…and as to the bread…well there are food banks…We live in a country that should hang its head in shame.
This particular decision is nothing to do with Whitehall.
Peter G . Newfoundland, Canada
Date: 28th September 2023.
Until reading this very sad news, I must confess to never having been aware of Mid Wales Opera. As a composer, I have considered possibilities of writing a chamber opera but, of course, logistics can be an impenetrable barrier to realisation.
Is it fair to assume that Mid Wales Opera is a small company? If so, there is no dearth of chamber operas, two notable examples being Britten’s “Albert Herring” and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ “The Lighthouse.” Both are not only of outstanding quality but also very “audience friendly.”
So, it’s not a repertoire issue. I’ve no doubt that Welsh composers have written operas for small forces, given the country’s proud vocal heritage. Again, can I assume that such oeuvre is / was a staple of Mid Wales Opera’s core repertoire?
It is to be hoped that some kind of rescue deal can be negotiated. This may necessitate bypassing Arts Council bureaucracy and London-centric bias. Before Brexit, funding from the EU, whilst not a given, could be applied for. Regional arts funding from Brussels helped keep many performing bodies from going under.
What a mess!
Very sad and worrying. Like one of the commentators below, I worked with the company under Barbara McGuire and Keith Darlington. I sang in the chorus as a student for three seasons and this included a tour where I was one of a quartet chorus. I went on to the RCM Opera School where a had so much more stage experience than everyone else thanks to MWO and went straight from there to Glyndebourne. The experience and confidence I gained at MWO was invaluable.
How are young singers meant to develop today?
Mairéad, you are so right. And I may just add that the route for young designers and directors in opera is also dependent on the kind of experience which companies like MWO – and there are very few of them now – provide. I was lucky to work with many singers who were either at the start of their careers or trying out roles for the first time in supportive conditions. We did ‘Otello’ there with the wonderful and much missed Keith Latham in his first Iago and Mary Lloyd Davies in her first Desdemona; John Daszak, Mary Plazas, and Neal Davies brought their young talents to Mozart… and those were only the first years!