New Music Centre Opens in the East Riding
Councillor David Rudd, the Chairman of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, opened a new £750,000 Music Education Centre in Beverley on 8th October 2010. The Hexagon Centre, located on Coltman Avenue, represents a significant investment by the Council to improve the music facilities for East Riding children and the Schools’ Music Service.
Robert Mitchell, the Head of East Riding Schools’ Music Service said,
“Music is such an important part of every child’s education and this new facility will give this area’s children a fantastic opportunity to turn music into a lifelong passion. We know that when music is an integral part of children’s learning that they benefit from improved cognitive skills and enjoy greater confidence and social abilities. These are lessons for life.”
The Hexagon Music Centre is a highly imaginative remodelling and refurbishment of a former Infant School and now provides not only modern office accommodation but also a number of bespoke rehearsal and teaching spaces to encourage group music making. The building is a part of a major regeneration investment in one of the East Riding’s more deprived wards. The East Riding Council has already opened a new Children’s Centre on the Coltman Avenue site and it is also committed to developing new office accommodation in order to co-locate staff from the Children Families and Schools Directorate who are presently housed at a number of different locations.
“The music service in the East Riding now has a home that can transform the experience of our young musicians”, continued Mr Mitchell. “The Hexagon has already been filled with the sound of music making thanks to a large range of events during the first few weeks of this term. We have hosted master classes and workshops for the Beverley Chamber Music Festival benefiting 40 local pupils. The British Trombone Society held a workshop for 25 young local trombonists who were tutored by the Black Dyke Mills Brass Band trombone section.
“The Hexagon will also be the base for a number of ensemble rehearsals including the Senior Wind Band, Youth Jazz Orchestra and two Percussion Ensembles and there are plans to hold a number of Youth Orchestra rehearsals at the centre.
We can already see the value of the new building as a training, rehearsal and performance space. We are also receiving enquiries from a wide range of potential users who are keen to experience the first class facilities that we now have available.”
The Hexagon is equipped with interactive whiteboards, it is also Wi-Fi enabled throughout and has modern conference and training facilities available for hirers of the building.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.