The Stage

Opera North wins £3.5m funding boost from ACE

Published Tuesday 6 May 2008 at 18:25 by Matthew Hemley

Opera North is to benefit from a £3.5 million grant of Lottery funding from Arts Council England, which will be put towards the running costs of its new centre in Leeds.

The centre includes rehearsal and performance spaces and was built with aid of a previous ACE award of £16.5 million. This money also helped refurbish the city’s Grand Theatre, where Opera North performs its main work.

Using the extra £3.5 million, the company will now be able to develop a programme of activity in its new centre and also build on its touring work.

Opera North general director Richard Mantle said: “The whole company and all our current and future audiences will be delighted that Arts Council England has extended its Lottery funding. Through this timely additional grant, the company is now in a position to ensure that we can continue to invest in innovative, high quality work and artistic development and at the same time, sustain a touring programme in the north.”

Andy Carver, regional executive director for ACE Yorkshire, said the additional investment reflected “the respect that Opera North’s artistic work currently enjoys nationally, regionally and locally”.

He added: “We want to ensure maximum benefit from our investment in the company by enabling them to be innovative, to take artistic risks and to go on to even greater success.”