This time last year, headlines were dominated by the bewilderment at the draconian funding cuts imposed on opera companies and ensembles by a seemingly heedless Arts Council England. A year later, much of that bewilderment remains, and in some ways has only increased, while the consequences of those cuts are still emerging.
The Manchester-based new-music group Psappha has disbanded, while the future of Leeds Lieder was called into question, in both cases as a result of the withdrawal of their grants, and even though both were organisations that appeared to meet all ACE’s criteria for regionality and “levelling up”.
