ENO’s last music director backs musicians’ strike

The condcutor Martyn Brabbins who resigned as music director of English National Opera in October, has spoken out in support of the company’s musicians who will strike on February 1 over threats to their jobs.

Brabbins said: ‘When is an opera company not an opera company? When music is no longer at its heart. This is the tragic reality of where English National Opera will find itself, should it go ahead with proposed plans to make deep and sweeping cuts to musicians’ contracts…

‘These are some of the hardest working, most dedicated people you would ever hope to find, working as a team for one shared purpose – to create extraordinary art and bring that to as wide an audience as possible… Yet as a result of Arts Council England’s narrow-minded and negligent decision to push ENO out of London, these brilliant musicians face devastation to their livelihoods and untold stress to their families.’