ENO chorus cuts causing ‘profound anxiety’

Proposed cuts to English National Opera's (ENO) chorus will cause "profound anxiety" to freelance singers and have "repercussions" that will "ripple across the entire UK opera workforce", according to members of performers' union Equity.

Equity's Singers and Opera Deputies Committees have released a joint statement expressing its concern over the impact of job losses and pay cuts to ENO’s chorus.

According to Equity, the proposals include reducing the chorus' contract length from 10 to six months of the year and a 40% cut in salary. It would also see a reduction in the size of the chorus on the new six-month "permanent" contracts to 36 singers, down from its current membership of 37 and three fixed-term fellowship positions. 

The cuts emerged alongside plans to downsize ENO's orchestra and cut some of its technical staff.

In the statement, the committees were critical of ACE's handling of ENO's core funding. It said: "These cuts have not occurred in isolation. Arts organisations are looking to rebuild after the pandemic with insufficient public funding.

"When Arts Council England removed ENO from the National Portfolio in November 2022, it did so seemingly without any strategy or rationale behind how funding decisions were made.

“Meanwhile, cuts were also made to other companies, which have reduced the amount of work available for singers, both in terms of the amount of opera produced and the number of singers engaged, putting the workforce under strain.

"Towns and cities such as Milton Keynes and Liverpool will be deprived of large-scale touring opera, running directly counter to the aims of bringing opera to new and regionally diverse audiences.

"Regular work, underpinned by good terms and conditions, is vital in ensuring that those from all backgrounds can access, and remain in, a career in opera.”

The committees have urged ENO to find “a sustainable solution” that would “protect the employment” of chorus members “with a viable income” and called upon ACE to develop a strategy to “provide funding for the public provision of Opera for all, including its dedicated workforce."

ENO has said the cuts are necessary following a reduction in its funding from ACE. The company, which has until 2029 to move its headquarters out of London under ACE plans, has said that following negotiations with the funding body, it was “no longer facing mass permanent redundancies” but was reevaluating employment levels “across every part of the organisation”.