Outgoing ENO Chief Executive Stewart Murphy Takes Aim at Arts Bosses, Saying 'History is Watching'

Outgoing English National Opera Chief Executive Stewart Murphy has warned the government and leaders of Arts Council England that "history is watching".

Speaking at the opening night of The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs on 27 April, Murphy said:

"History is watching you Nick Serota and Darren Henley at the Arts Council. History is also watching you DCMS Secretary of State Lucy Fraser and Levelling Up Secretary of State Michael Gove."

"You will all be remembered for and judged by the decisions you make over the next few months. As those decisions could either enable and elevate for the next one hundred years or decimate and destroy what has happened for the past hundred years. I know you know this as some of you are in the theatre tonight. Everyone is watching what you do with this beloved institution."

Murphy is leaving ENO at the end of the summer after a turbulent time which has seen ENO lose 100% of its funding and being ordered to leave London by Arts Council England. The ENO has now agreed to move out of London "while continuing to own, manage and put on work at the London Coliseum."

Having withdrawn all funding to the organisation in last year's funding announcements, Arts Council England has agreed a budget of £24 million for 2024-26. The combined amount still falls short of the funding it had been receiving as a national portfolio organisation (£35.46 million for three years compared with £37.8 million as an NPO).

Murphy said that the institution deserved to be protected for "future generations here and abroad." He called the company "outrageously brilliant" and appealed for the ENO to be given the resources to be allowed to adapt and change.