The renaming of the Royal Opera House to Royal Ballet and Opera a few weeks ago really made me pause for thought. I can’t help but wonder if together with facing the perennial financial challenges, there is a growing risk of opera losing its status as a leading performance art for the nation. 

I might not be a performer or impresario myself but I am a firm believer in the opera’s miraculous power to bring together communities and to reinvent itself, again and again, with every new generation of artists and spectators.  

This is why, over a decade ago, I brought together the learning and experience I gained with my events company Nexus Media and founded the Opera Awards. Even if public funding around the world is shrinking, I am more confident than ever that it is the right thing to do if we are to preserve opera and its impact on future generations.  

While other opera accolades tend to focus on geography or schools, my aims were different. I wanted to recognise excellence in opera no matter where it comes from, appeal to thousands of companies rather than a select few, celebrate together as a community and raise money for young talent. Just this past year, the jury received over 10,000 nominations from over 40 countries. I can say for sure that no other celebration of opera is as open or diverse as the IOA.  

At a recent fundraising dinner for the IOAs, Thangam Debbonaire MP, the eloquent Shadow Minister for Culture who is a former classical cellist herself and married to an opera singer, spoke about the dangers of continuing to reduce funding for the arts. Opera in particular, and the arts more generally are undoubtedly under threat, underfunded and out of focus in a world ravaged by wars and economic pressure. The Royal Opera has calculated that it is facing 20% cuts this year. The funding cuts administered to the English National Opera last year are another devastating example, and, I suspect, we can expect more to come.

In other industries and across other arts, when funding cuts loom and audiences dwindle, professionals come together to try to brainstorm and join the fight against whatever it is that threatens their existence. Why is it that we opera fans, performers and everyone who makes this extraordinary art come to life, come together so rarely to try and solve our problems? Despite some excellent communities like Opera Europa doing a great job of sharing learning, within the wider international opera community, it seems to me that this togetherness is lacking and that puts the art form even more at risk.  

There is no doubt across the community that opera must survive for all our sakes, the artists, the fans and the public, to continue making our mark as a civilisation. We just need to convince the politicians, the business leaders, and the wider public of what we already know – that opera can and must save itself.  

To do that, it needs money and resources. It is becoming clear that relying solely on government funds, the way many opera companies across the world still do is no longer an option. The only way we can secure our future is getting opera back on a commercial footing. We need to be working towards efficiency, profitability and impact – words that may grate the ear of the artist but that will, ultimately, decide the future of many opera houses.

One of the reasons I set up the Awards is because I know how to galvanise corporate support and, in that respect, I feel the wider opera community can benefit from the IOA model. While modern fundraising is not easy or straightforward, gone are the days when government and philanthropic support were enough even for the most well-funded of companies. Corporate fundraising is essential for the opera’s survival but equally needs to be thoughtful and considered.  

Not everyone agreed with the Royal Opera House’s decision to sever its long-term ties with BP, whose seven-figure funding support will prove extremely difficult to replenish from other sources. What it shows is that sometimes tough decisions have to be taken. The key is making them quickly and strategically, and not being afraid of innovation. Some opera companies have already dipped their toe in the water with crowdfunding and small grant programmes, like the Fundación Amigos at Teatro Real in Madrid attracting small donations or the English National Opera fundraising through the European funding platform Fedora Circle.  

While the opera management looks to raise commercial income, it also needs to be nimble and strategic. There are some obvious gaps in the way opera houses approach income generation: a Deloitte report based on a survey of over 20 major European opera companies has shown that only 6% of opera company income comes from sponsorship and only 4% from other income such as catering, venue lease and merchandise. And yet, with grant income declining year on year, it is clear to me that these avenues of income generation should be better explored. All of us in the opera community need to pool resources together and share learning with others. Doing so will save money and time and reduce environmental footprints – all things a community needs to work together to survive.  

Competition has been at the root of opera’s development in history, and it is only natural for great talent to want to compete as it strives for the perfect performance. And yet, today we need to hang our competitive hats and think about survival – coming together as a community is the only way to preserve opera’s contribution vital to our future. 

Harry Hyman is an entrepreneur and philanthropist and the Founder of the International Opera Awards. He writes in a personal capacity.