Around the Music Festival

The English National Opera （ENO） in the United Kingdom announced on December 5 that it will move its home base from London to Manchester. Last November, the English National Opera was asked to leave London to receive a lump sum instead and explore the development of a new business model after its annual subsidy of 12.6 million pounds was terminated amid measures to cut cultural budgets.

According to the announcement, the five candidate cities are Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Nottingham, and Manchester. Of these, Manchester is the largest city in Europe without a resident opera company, and the relocation will take place in 2029. Even after the relocation, the company will also plan to make appearances at the London Coliseum, which has been its home base for some time.

ENO is an English-language opera company that moved its home base to the London Coliseum in 1968 and has been performing under its current name since 1974. The company is known for its efforts to lower the barriers to opera by keeping ticket prices low and always including one performance with sign language in every production.

Immediately after the announcement of the budget cuts last year, a number of British musicians, including baritone Bryn Terfel, voiced their opposition one after another. Also this past October, conductor Martin Brabbins, who had served as music director for seven years, resigned in protest of the specific proposed staff cuts and other issues.

Photo：English National Opera


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