English Touring Opera

English Touring Opera (ETO) is an opera company in the United Kingdom founded in 1979 under the name Opera 80 by the then-existing Arts Council of Great Britain. In 1992 the company changed to its present name. Today it is sponsored in part by Arts Council England [1] as well as receiving support from individual and corporate sponsors, plus trusts and foundations. The company aims to bring high quality opera to areas of England that would not otherwise have ready access to such productions. From 2002 its Director was James Conway,[2] who came from the Opera Theatre of Ireland. It was announced in January 2022 that he was stepping down,[3] and his successor was revealed in March 2022 as Robin Norton-Hale.[4]

The company

Opera 80 itself became the successor to Opera For All,[5] an "umbrella organization" which had planned tours by small groups which performed to piano accompaniment.[6] David Parry became music director in 1983.[6]

ETO is a charitable organisation which seeks to stimulate access, understanding and appreciation of opera. The company has always presented operas in English and it currently tours twice each year to more venues than any other opera company in the UK, going to about 33 theatres, many of which would not normally host opera performances.[7] These include London, Cambridge, Exeter, Poole, Cheltenham, Malvern, Crawley, Sheffield, Wolverhampton, Buxton, Durham and Perth. It is estimated that the Spring 2012 tour included "nearly 50 gigs".[6]

As James Conway notes:

"One of the great new challenges is to show audiences that what we offer is different from the essentially passive experience of cinema relays – to point out how the actual live experience of listening and looking is incomparably better".[8]

In Britain's economic climate of 2012, Arts Council England grants have increased by about 50% since 2002[6] and "English Touring Opera....will receive £1,577,015 in 2012/13, rising to £1,819,244 in 2014/15. This is expected to allow the company to sustain its current level of touring over the coming year, then to increase its programme of activity from 2012 onwards."[9]

Productions

Artists

Singers whose early careers began with ETO often return to perform again with the company after their careers have developed further.

Singers who have performed with ETO include Sarah Connolly, Mary Plazas, Sylvia O'Brien, Todd Wilander, Jonathan Veira, Paul Nilon, Alison Hagley and Susan Gritton. Amanda Echalaz has starred in productions of Così fan tutte, Alcina, Eugene Onegin and Jenůfa.

ETO's and Opera 80's conductors have included Nicholas Kraemer, Ivor Bolton, Stephen Barlow, Martin André, David Parry and Michael Rosewell. It has also shown the early work of such directors as Richard Jones, Robert Carsen, Declan Donnellan and Steven Pimlott.

Productions of works outside the standard repertory

Outreach

In addition to theatre-staged operatic productions, ETO focuses on relationships with communities through education and outreach programs, and organises projects for people of all ages and abilities – from on-stage workshops to residencies in schools and performances for children with special needs. Singers and musicians on tour with the ETO often step off-stage and into the classroom of outreach workshops alongside professional animateurs.

Bradley Travis is the current Artistic Associate for Learning and Participation and overseas outreach and education programs.

One of ETO's outreach programs is Creative Residencies, in which young people with disabilities engage in week-long creative workshops. Between 2007 and 2009, these projects have included:

  • House on the Moon (2007) involved a collaboration with local Wolverhampton organisations. Nearly 200 people including amateurs and professionals from every background and of every ability performed.
  • Turtle Song was presented in 2008. It was a collaboration with Turtle Key Arts and the Royal College of Music which encourages people with Alzheimer's Disease or dementia to compose and sing their own songs, working alongside professional musicians.
  • One Day, Two Dawns was an opera in 2009 for the Truro, Cornwall community, where a 200-member cast of local people aged 8–80 devised and rehearsed a new piece of music.
  • Jack and the Beanstalk / Red Ridinghood (also 2009) was an interactive fairytale opera with pre-school students composed by Tom Smail.

Awards

In 2004 James Conway's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) "Best Opera" Award.

James Conway's production of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda was nominated for a South Bank Show Award in 2005.

ETO's projects Ice and Crossing the Styx were both nominated for an RPS Award in the Education Category in 2006.[30] Ice was a devised opera for teenagers, and Crossing the Styx was a devised opera for primary school students.

House on the Moon with the Wolverhampton Community Opera was nominated for an RPS Best Education Project award of 2007.

In 2010 One Day, Two Dawns with Hall for Cornwall won the RPS Education Award.

Laika the Spacedog, a new opera for children aged 7 to 11, was awarded the "David Bedford Music Education Award" in 2012. It honours outstanding music education projects, and was given by The PRS For Music Foundation.[31] Laika the Spacedog also won two awards for Best Production at the Armel International Opera Festival in Szeged, Hungary in 2013. The Best Production award as voted for by the members of the International Competition Jury, and Best Production from the Jury of the University of Szeged.[32]

In the Spring of 2014, ETO was the winner of an Olivier Award in the "Outstanding Achievement in Opera" category];[33][34] on the Olivier Awards website, it is noted that the company won the Award for "its brave and challenging touring productions....of Michael Tippett's elegant and vibrant King Priam and Britten's rarely performed operetta Paul Bunyan. The stylishly staged pair played at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio Theatre in Covent Garden, London, as part of a UK tour."[33]

2021 Dismissals

In September 2021, ETO wrote to tell 13 freelance musicians that they would not be re-engaged for the upcoming tour, but that they would stay in a pool of artists to be drawn upon in the future.[35][36] Some of the players had been engaged in freelance contracts year after year.[37] The players who were not engaged for the upcoming season were mid-to-late-career musicians,[38] when sent the letter.[39] The freelance artists had hoped to return to work in the post-pandemic period.[40] Zhang Zhang, a violinist with the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, asked if firing people because of their skin color is racism.[41][42] Zoe Strimpel wrote that ETO's "policy race-based contracting" was a "debacle."[43] ETO indicated its policy was based on guidance from its main funder, Arts Council England.[44]

References

Notes

  1. ETO page on artscouncil.org.uk Archived 9 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "English Touring Opera Not Renewing Some Freelance Contracts Over Diversity Concerns". The Violin Channel. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021. the English Touring Opera's (ETO) director James Conway
  3. "James Conway to leave English Touring Opera after 20 years". The Stage. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  4. "English Touring Opera appoints Robin Norton-Hale as general director". The Stage. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  5. "Opera 80", The New Grove Dictionary of Opera", at Oxfordmusiconline.com
  6. Thicknesse, pp. 71–72
  7. About ETO at englishtouringopera.org.uk
  8. Conway quoted in Thicknesse, p. 71
  9. "Opera Now: Latest News" online at rhinegold.co.uk/magazines/opera_now Archived 11 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "ETO announces casting for 30th anniversary tour in Spring 2009" at www.musicalcriticism.com
  11. Rupert Christiansen, "Albert Herring, English Touring Opera/Linbury Studio Theatre, review", The Telegraph (London). 8 October 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012
  12. Tim Ashley, "The Emperor of Atlantis – review", The Guardian (London), 9 October 2012
  13. Rupert Christiansen, "The Lighthouse, The Emperor of Atlantis, ETO, touring, review", The Telegraph (London), 12 October 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  14. Richard Fairman, "King Priam, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London – review", Financial Times (London), 18 February 2014
  15. Rupert Christiansen, "Paul Bunyan by Benjamin Britten, English Touring Opera, review", The Telegraph (London), 21 February 2014
  16. Donizetti Society "Future Events" page. Retrieved 13 June 2014
  17. Patience. Retrieved 10 December 2016
  18. "Dardanus". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  19. "Fireworks!". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  20. "Dido & Aeneas / Jonas / I will not speak". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  21. "Elizabeth I (Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra)". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  22. "The Silver Lake - A Winter's Tale (Der Silbersee)". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  23. "Romances on British Poetry". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  24. "Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  25. "The Poet's Echo". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  26. "Tel Jour, telle nuit". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  27. "A Waterbird Talk". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  28. "Handel: Amadigi | English Touring Opera". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  29. "The Golden Cockerel". English Touring Opera. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  30. Charity Commission PDF
  31. Description of the ETO winning project Archived 8 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  32. "The Winners of Armel Opera Competition and Festival 2013" Archived 6 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine on armelfestival.org. Retrieved 5 January 2014
  33. "Outstanding Achievement in Opera Award 2014" Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine on olivierawards.com. Retrieved 13 June 2014
  34. "ETO Wins Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement" on englishtouringopera.org.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2014
  35. Norman Lebrecht (17 September 2021). "FRENCH ARE PERPLEXED AT ENGLISH TOURING OPERA'S REPLACEMENT OF WHITE MUSICIANS". Slipped Disc. Retrieved 17 September 2021. The shocking reverse-racism practised by ETO's director James Conway in 'minoritising' his orchestra
  36. "English Touring Opera Drops Half of Its Musicians in the Name of Diversity". Digital Music News. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021. This equates to almost half the orchestra losing their roles. Many of these members have been performing with ETO for twenty years or more
  37. GIVERNY MASSO (16 September 2021). "Musicians' Union in row with English Touring Opera over 'sacking' of freelancers". The Stage. Retrieved 17 September 2021. some of the musicians who had received it had "been performing with ETO for 20 years or more" or had "been loyal to the company season after season"
  38. "When best intentions backfire?".
  39. Jean Michel Pennetier (17 September 2021). "English Touring Opera : quand discrimination positive rime avec pertes d'emploi". Forumopera.com (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2021. l'ETO a annoncé à 14 musiciens blancs, âgés de 44 à 66 ans, qu'ils ne seraient pas réengagés
  40. "14 white musicians are fired by an English opera house because they think there are too many white artists in the company". Origo (in Hungarian). 17 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021. Abban bíztak, hogy most vissza tudnak térni a munkához, és törleszthetik a felvett kölcsönöket - erre azonban nem lesz lehetőségük.
  41. "UK: Kulturkampf in der Oper – 14 weiße Musiker entlassen". Die Tagespost (in German). 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021. "Instead of viewing the ensemble of musicians as artists who share the same passion and the same profession, they are checked and appraised according to their skin color or ethnic origin. Isn't that what you call racism?," she told the newspaper.
  42. Ronan Planchon (16 September 2021). "Zhang Zhang: "Où est la justice quand on renvoie des musiciens classiques parce qu'ils ne représentent pas la "diversité" ?"". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2021. La violoniste de l'Orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo juge cette décision scandaleuse
  43. Zoe Strimpel (19 September 2021). "The sacking of white members of the English Touring Opera shows how woke will destroy the arts". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 September 2021. the ETO's policy of race-based contract [...] the hideous optics of the ETO debacle
  44. "MU Appalled to Hear About English Touring Opera's Recent Action". Musician's Union. 10 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021. ETO have stated that they are prioritising: "increased diversity in the orchestra. This is in line with the firm guidance of the Arts Council

Sources

  • Thicknesse, Robert, "Company Profile: English Touring Opera", Opera Now (London), October 2012
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