Welcome

English National Opera is the nation’s opera company dedicated to one simple aim: making opera for everyone.

 

The ENO’s purpose is to create new experiences with opera that inspire, nurture creativity and make a difference.

 

• We take a fresh exciting approach to opera to reflect the diversity of our culture.

• We encourage creativity throughout the company and our commitment to the future of opera provides a platform to develop outstanding careers.

• We connect to audiences through inspiring, accessible, world-class opera and stimulating, creative participation programmes.

• We work with a wide range of visiting companies to generate essential revenue and welcome new audiences to share the experience of our theatre.

• We create our productions for the widest possible audiences and aim to introduce completely new audiences to the magic of opera whether at the London Coliseum, outside of our theatrical home or internationally.

• We make our productions accessible by offering a large proportion of tickets at affordable prices, through our attendance schemes and our ENO Baylis learning and participation programmes.

 

ENO goes from strength to strength with critically acclaimed productions at the London Coliseum, the largest theatre in the West End, and at co-producing venues across London. This season alone we have seen sell-out performances for Porgy & Bess and Akhnaten and continue to be a world-class opera company working internationally with other organisations to bring not only ground-breaking productions to the stage, but commissioning new operas for the future of opera. ENO has an award-winning chorus and orchestra and currently has four 2019 Olivier award nominations for the talent we bring to the stage.

 

We sing in English to be as accessible to the widest possible audience, we create opera that feels different, more theatrical and creatively daring. We've been doing this to an internationally recognised standard since being founded in 1931 as Sadler's Wells Opera.

 

We are determined to open up the genre: nearly half of our audiences in 2017/18 were first-time bookers. Our learning and participation programme ENO Baylis last year touched the lives of over 15,000 school children and community groups, and our talent development programme nurtures the careers of singers (the ENO Harewood Artist programme) and conductors (the Charles Mackerras Fellowship). We give free tickets to Under 18s in our balcony for Saturday performances - since announcing this last December we have given away more than 1500 tickets.

 

Last year, the percentage of audience members under 44 increased by 13% year-on-year and the proportion of our audience with a black or minority ethnic background increased from 4% to 10%. Our ongoing support and development of British talent meant 80% of the cast in the 2017-18 season were British or British trained. That's important to us and is fundamental to our ethos of giving new talent their break. In January of this year, we announced that we would be recruiting four new members of our Chorus from a BAME background, as well as three BAME Director Observerships.

 

Our home has been the London Coliseum for 50 years this year, and we are committed to cherishing and continuing to develop this national treasure.

 

We are part of the Arts Council National Portfolio, with a four-year funding agreement; delivering public value is at the centre of all we do.

 

The finance department is vital to supporting a vibrant and varied business; bringing together a complex range of income streams including box-office, retail, property rental and fundraising. It is key to supporting the growth of the ENO’s four-year plan and managing commercial and ACE relationships.

 

ENO is about opera for everyone.