Nevill Holt Opera responds to critics of £85K coronavirus Recovery Fund grant

Nevill Holt Opera has responded to accusations of bias and cronyism arising from being awarded £85,000 from the UK government’s Cultural Recovery Fund. The Leicestershire-based opera company runs an annual summer festival at Nevill Holt estate, owned by multi-millionaire businessman David Ross.

Ross, appointed chairman of the Royal Opera House in July, is a friend of the prime minister Boris Johnson as well as a donor to the Tory Party. Criticism in Private Eye and the Daily Mail implied that Nevill Holt Opera was undeserving of the grant because it was able to draw on Ross’s £650m fortune and the fact that his 17-year-old son, Carl Ross, has just been appointed patron of the opera company.

Annie Lydford, managing director of Nevill Holt Opera, said: ‘Nevill Holt Opera is an independent charity run by a board, Artistic Director and Managing Director. We are fortunate to use the Nevill Holt estate for our annual festival, and to lease the beautiful theatre on the grounds, but we are a separate organisation. It is categorically incorrect to say that the organisation is run by David Ross, or that it is a private venture.

'Alongside our opera festival, we prioritise our community and education programmes, which have reached thousands of young people across the Midlands. It is deeply important to us that we continue to make a positive difference to our local area, and this part of our work continues year-round. It is central to all that we do, and we are glad to have been able to complete our Spring Tour (working over three months with nine local schools) before lockdown.'

'This summer,' Lydford continued, 'we have ensured that we are putting on work and employing artists. More than 2,000 people came to hear our NHO Young Artists at our outdoor concerts and at our open garden events this summer, and we are running 10 events (including four performances of Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti) at our Winter Weekend. It matters to us that we find ways to employ freelancers and funnel support through wherever we can.

'NHO applied for this grant through ACE’s formal application process. NHO was not treated any differently, and applied in the same way as all other organisations seeking grants from this fund.

'We are grateful to support from the David Ross Foundation, which accounts for about 10% of our annual income. More than 55% of our income each year comes from our box office, with 25% fundraised from other sources. 10% comes from other activity, such as catering and merchandise. This means that the cancellation of our festival had a critical effect on our future, as we lost more than 85% income, having already spent on our education programmes and other work.'

'We are sincerely grateful for this grant,' Lydford concluded, 'and to all whose support has enabled us to continue.’

Nevill Holt Opera was the only country house opera to receive funding, allocated by Arts Council England, in the first round of awards from the £1.57 billion rescue package for the arts announced in July by the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak. This round was for sums of between £50,000 and £1m to help Britain’s arts companies through the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of £257m was distributed by the Arts Council to more than 1,000 arts companies based in England.

More information about the grants and application process can be found on ACE's website: artscouncil.org.uk/funding/culture-recovery-fund-grants