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Annual fund 2027

Looking ahead to plans for the 2027 donations to our Annual Fund.

Every year, the generous donations to our Annual Fund enable us to remain a place of world-class artistic excellence, technical innovation, and extraordinary opera.

We are looking ahead to 2027, and our focus is turning to key infrastructure and stage upgrades essential to maintaining our standards behind the scenes and on stage.

Read on to discover the plans that your support will bring to life. A huge thank you to everybody who has already generously donated – you can support us by donating to our Annual Fund here.

Upgrading the Jerwood Studio

The Jerwood Studio is an integral rehearsal and preparation space for us. To ensure it can safely bear the load and weight of increasingly complex, heavy scenery and access equipment, we need to undertake crucial floor enhancements.

This work will involve removing aged sprung floor elements and installing additional supporting joists to structural standards.

This vital reinforcement ensures our creative teams have a state-of-the-art rehearsal environment capable of supporting ambitious modern staging.

Rehearsals for Carmen in the Jerwood Studio, Festival 2024. Photo by Richard Hubert Smith.

Replacing the Orchestra Pit Bridge

The orchestra pit bridge plays an essential role during the rehearsal period, giving our creative teams access between the stage and the auditorium.

Following a recent structural survey, an urgent replacement is required to ensure safe, long-term use.

While interim procedures are currently keeping productions running seamlessly, your donations to the Annual Fund will allow us to install a permanent replacement bridge.

Sustainable upgrades

As part of our commitment to sustainability and technical excellence, we have highlighted some key areas that we can improve.

In 2027, we are aiming to reduce our reliance on costly equipment hire and instead invest in replacing and upgrading equipment, such as our lighting rigs, our digital sound infrastructure and our stock cameras. These updates will also improve the audio and visual experience in our auditorium, allowing you to experience extraordinary opera.

Following successful installation of solar panels on the roof of the Production Hub in early 2025, we want to install additional solar panels on the roof of the Ripe Store – where we store stage sets from past productions – within existing planning permission.

Danny Harratt, Glyndebourne’s Head of Facilities, on the roof of the Production Hub reviewing the newly-installed solar panels, January 2025. Photo: Vicky Skeet.

These, alongside various other upgrades to our sound and video infrastructure, tannoy and paging system and Organ Room PA system have all been identified as important areas to help us deliver unforgettable world-class opera.