Help support the future of new opera: Tête à Tête's funding appeal for the 2020 festival

In March, when I interviewed a conductor at the beginning of lockdown he commented, when talking about future plans, that it wasn't just a question of whether they would be able to stage opera in the Autumn, but also whether there was going to be any money to fund it. This question has become fundamental to the survival of musical performance.

Tête à Tête has plans for its 2020 festival in September, either live or on-line depending on the situation, but unfortunately they have a significant funding gap and are £15,000 short, with many trusts and foundations having suspended further grant giving until September. This puts the festival in doubt and Tête à Tête has launched an appeal to raise funds to allow the festival to go ahead.

The company has already participated in a pilot indoor performance with a socially distanced audience, so as ever Tête à Tête is at the cutting edge.

Plans for the September 2020 festival include over 30 new operas, from Beethoven was a Lesbian (an homage to Pauline Oliveros in extravagant temporal drag) to The Minutes of the Hildegard of Bingen Society for Gardening Companions.

Full details of the planned 2020 Tête à Tête: the Opera Festival from the festival website.

If you care about new opera, then do help and visit the festival's support page.