Welsh National Opera to cease performances in Liverpool

Welsh National Opera has announced it will no longer tour in Liverpool because of cuts to its Arts Council England funding.

The company, which receives National Portfolio Organisation funding from both ACE and the Arts Council of Wales, has had its ACE grant cut by 35%, a drop of £2.2m.

WNO General Director Aidan Lang said: "Our decision to withdraw from performing in Liverpool is regrettable, but has been carefully considered, taking into account a wide range of factors which will help us to make cost savings without impacting the quality of our work." 

WNO has been touring to Liverpool since 1968, first at the Royal Court and from 1976 at Liverpool Empire Theatre.

The decision means that 2023 productions of 'Blaze of Glory!', about a miners' choir set in the 1950s, and Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' will no longer be performed in Liverpool.

Other tour dates in Cardiff, Llandudno, Milton Keynes, Bristol, Birmingham, and Southampton will still go ahead.