I spent the late afternoon with Jonathan Stewart and his assistant Charlotte at the Coliseum in Charing Cross Road, interviewing some of the musicians in the English National Opera orchestra who are set to be affected by the severe cuts in funding for the organisation.
ENO is set to lose £12.8m from its annual funding and instead will receive just £17m over the next three years to ‘develop a new business model.’
We were welcomed by steward Glen Sheldon, who had arranged for us to speak to four musicians, all of whom were passionate about ENO, the venue and opera in general. The cuts have come as a major shock to the players, chorus, backstage staff and management.
Afterwards Jonathan and I walked to Soho House, where he is a member, and discussed the evenings recordings and our plans for the coming days.
