Closure
The effective closure of Kent Opera in 1989 due to the withdrawal of all funding from the Arts Council was a controversial decision which generated much protest. In 1983 Kent Opera was the only opera company not to have its deficit written off. An Arts Council report in 1987 threatened to withdraw Kent Opera's grant from 1 April 1988 but this was successfully fought off, partly because the report contained much false information. In 1988 the company made successful tours to Singapore and Valencia in Spain, and with its 20th anniversary approaching, received plaudits in the press. When another proposal to cut the company was put forward in December 1989, Robert Ponsonby resigned from the music panel, performances at Covent Garden were cancelled and commissions from Michael Berkeley and Peter Maxwell Davies stopped.
Three further small-scale productions were mounted between 1994 and 1997.
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