What does the future of Glyndebourne look like?

On the big occasion of a 90th birthday, you can expect to focus on the good times gone by. But as Glyndebourne enters its 10th decade, the prestigious opera house is planning ahead. “We spend a lot of time here thinking about the future,” says artistic director Stephen Langridge. “Where do we want to be when we are 100? Where do we want the opera to be?”

Much of this distinction in the UK is linked to Glyndebourne, with its reputation as the most ostentatious and dull of art forms (opera performances are often long, performed in foreign languages, and based on music that few of us grew up consuming). During the summer months, the grounds of the East Sussex manor host large numbers of people who dress in fancy evening dresses and have lavish picnics during this time. For many it seems a world away from reality. But when Langridge talks about opera, the musty clichés it has accumulated fly away. “My definition of opera is telling stories through music and action,” he says, never remaining still as he speaks. “And if that’s what opera is, then it exists everywhere, in every culture. It’s a way to reflect the world around us. But only if we open it will it reflect our world.”

During his five-year tenure at Glyndebourne, Langridge and his team question who makes the opera and for whom, and consider the role they can play in expanding it. “We know there is talent everywhere, but there isn’t always opportunity,” he says. Such was the case for young Alison Buchanan, who thought she was the only Black opera singer in the world. “Then I walked into Glyndebourne and the first thing that struck me was that I wasn’t the only one,” the famous soprano recalls.

At the age of 16, Buchanan was the youngest performer to appear in the Glyndebourne chorus in the 1986 production of Porgy and Bess, directed by Trevor Nunn, directed by Simon Rattle, and starring Cynthia Haymon and Willard White (a title he still holds). All black actors. “I feel very privileged to have had this as my first opera experience,” says Buchanan. But this was a one-off. “All the singers were assigned to do a Black opera,” he says of Porgy and Bess, “and after that there was no opera left for them to do. Nobody wanted them.” During production, Buchanan befriended fellow artist Lloyd Newton, who became frustrated with the lack of opportunities available for Black opera singers and decided to create them himself. When he died in 2017, Newton transferred the Pegasus Opera Company, an organization that supports majority singers around the world, to Buchanan’s care. Buchanan took the company full circle in 2021, forming a new partnership with Glyndebourne.

“It all started after the murder of George Floyd,” Buchanan says. Asking the industry to stand with them against racial injustice, Pegasus called on arts organizations to use more than words to express their solidarity against racism. “It was Glyndebourne who really stood out and wanted to know how we could do something different.” Now Glyndebourne and Pegasus have strengthened a collaboration that provides a program of coaching and mentoring opportunities for classical singers of African and Asian descent, including observation, masterclasses and one-to-one support.

These programs prevent a lack of opportunity from overtaking talent. They also help provide talented musicians with role models they can know. “I have memories of never seeing people like me on stage when I was young,” says pianist and conductor Avishka Edirisinghe. He became involved with Pegasus by chance when the group needed an accompanist for a few rehearsals and is currently working as assistant choir director at Glyndebourne, including in the upcoming production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare. He talks about the need for companies like Pegasus, where the concept of “social assistance” creates a different impact. “As white-skinned people, it’s a little harder when you have white people showing you the ins and outs of opera,” he says.

According to Edirising, part of the general hesitancy towards opera is its reputation as cold and grandiose. “It sucks,” he says. “None of the people I work with on a daily basis have the air of being better than everyone else.” He says progress is being made, albeit slowly. “More of us come from different backgrounds. “As our generation grows up and becomes the face of opera, I am confident that opera will become a much more welcoming art form to everyone.”

Racism in opera has a long history. As recently as 2022, decades after other opera houses had outright banned blackface, controversy erupted at the Italian opera house Arena di Verona when the principal soprano’s skin was darkened to perform Aida in Verdi’s opera. Founded in the 1930s, Glyndebourne has hosted a number of performances that would shock us now, and the company’s statement of engagement specifically condemns the presentations of exoticism and orientalism in earlier operas, stating that they were “occasionally” inaccurate. Today, the company is constantly learning how to light, dress and wig for different skin tones in the historical settings of its operas, as the diversity of its cast continues to increase. “This work makes us better on a purely musical, theatrical level,” Langridge says emphatically. “But it also makes better sense in terms of communicating with the community.”

The other key part of the long-term change underway at Glyndebourne is how to expand and diversify the audience. The introduction of £30 tickets for under-30s has gone some way towards bringing about change, but having been in place since 2006 they are not as well-known as they should be. “We want to ensure that young people see opera as a present experience that can be potentially transformative,” says Langridge. Word is spreading; This year, 2,500 more young people signed up for the program.

What happens when you turn 31? Cheaper standing tickets are available during the summer festival and the autumn festival offers 14,000 tickets for under £50 plus membership for under 40s. But some prices are still too high. A single ticket can set you back £285 and that won’t change. “The government does not fund our festival,” says Langridge. “We have to pay staff, artists, everyone throughout the year. “A lot of that comes from the box office.” This is even more critical now that 2023, when Arts Council funding cuts have meant the organization has been forced to cancel its planned tour; instead, he started the autumn festival.

Just as positive change takes time, disruptions and restrictions take time to have their effects. “I got into classical music because I was very lucky to have the chance to take part in local orchestras and choirs when I was young,” says Edirisinghe. “That’s where the work needs to start. “If you are involved from a young age, you are a part of it, so it should be for you.”

Langridge reflects once again on Glyndebourne’s centenary in ten years’ time. There are disruptions to deal with and stigmas to break, but he is hopeful and eager to cultivate new audiences, new talent and new interests. “I would like this to be a world where people don’t think opera is too ostentatious for them,” he says, both sunny and matter-of-fact. “Not everyone has to like it, but everyone should have the chance to see it.”

Glyndebourne runs until August 25th.