Chorus of approval follows opera’s chance to net £9m

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, (DCMS), has announced 34 organisations across the UK will benefit from the newly launched Catalyst: Endowment Fund, and Opera North is one of the major recipients and the only one in Yorkshire.

It is a joint initiative between the DCMS, Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund allowing arts organisations to use the promise of Government funding to leverage money from organisations for an endowment.

Endowments are typically large funds held in perpetuity by organisations, helping to provide long-term financial security by contributing to annual running costs through the interest earned.

Over the next three years, any money raised by the selected arts organisations will be matched by DCMS, in the case of Opera North on a two-to-one basis. The maximum available to Opera North, over the next three years, is £3m, which it will receive if it is able to raise £6m from the private sector.

Opera North director Richard Mantle said: “This is a strong endorsement from the Government that Opera North is one of the UK’s leading arts organisations and a vital part of the cultural landscape of the north of England.”