Just in: ACE moves opera company to Sheffield

Arts Cancel England has just forced English Touring Opera to relocate to former steeltown Sheffield.

Are they missing something here?

Sheffield was chosen by ACE as the home for a National Centre for Popular Music. It opened in March 1999 and closed in June 2000.

ACE must have suffered a geriatric loss of corporate memory. It just keeps repeating its mistakes.

Here’s the press release, just landed:

English Touring Opera (ETO) is delighted to announce the city of Sheffield as the company’s new home, and will relocate its offices there by the end of October 2024 as part of the Arts Council England Transfer Programme.

The decision is a result of an extensive and ongoing consultation process with ETO staff, performers and technical teams, as well as partner venues and organisations, local councils and schools to ensure the greatest positive impact on the widest possible audience. 85% of ETO’s work already takes place outside of London, and therefore exploring options as part of the Arts Council England Transfer Programme was a natural extension of the company’s mission to make exceptional artistic experiences available to all. ETO brings outstanding live productions and impactful education and community projects to thousands of people across England each year, visiting more towns and cities than any other UK opera company.

Sheffield is a major, historic city with a thriving cultural and creative industries sector, accounting for 7.2% of Sheffield’s working population – almost double the national average. ETO already has existing links with Sheffield built through its regular visits to Sheffield Theatres on its tours and work with the Sheffield Music Hub and partner schools in the area. This move allows the company to deepen its relationship with Sheffield Theatres and work closely with new partner organisations such as Music in the Round in broadening the scope of their work and introduce new audiences to opera. ETO also looks forward to building on exciting initial discussions around partnerships with Sheffield Hallam and Sheffield Universities. Sheffield is ideally located for much of ETO’s touring cycle, especially for its other venues in the North of England, which include Buxton Opera House, York Theatre Royal, the Gala Theatre in Durham and Storyhouse in Chester.  

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