Your article (‘We have permission to be brave’: the women taking charge of crisis-hit Welsh National Opera, 11 September) mentions Arts Council funding cuts “sealing a steep decline in a wider Welsh operatic ecosystem (also including the sadly reduced Mid Wales Opera and Music Theatre Wales)”. While it is true that the wider opera sector in Wales has suffered a steep decline in recent years, it is important to clarify the key funding decisions that have brought this about and to draw a distinction between the support of Arts Council Wales and Arts Council England.
Music Theatre Wales has received close to standstill funding from Arts Council Wales since 2011. We all know that in real terms this represents a significant reduction in funding, but nevertheless it does demonstrate Arts Council Wales’s ongoing commitment to the work Music Theatre Wales is doing to reimagine how opera is made, who is making it and how it is perceived. However, our ability to develop and share this work more widely has been severely impacted by the decision of Arts Council England to discontinue funding Music Theatre Wales in 2019, and by the changes and challenges faced by many presenting venues and partners in England.
We are planning to return to performing in England from 2027, building on the work we have been developing in Wales since 2021, so please watch this space.
Michael McCarthy
Director, Music Theatre Wales
