UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 19 DECEMBER 2014
From 2017 our students will get to study and perform in a brand new, £40m+ Birmingham Conservatoire building.
Like most new buildings, designs for the new Conservatoire - to be based next door to Birmingham City University's Schools of Media and Acting - have provoked a lively debate on social media.
In this short post, the Dean of our Faculty, Professor David Roberts (pictured right) shares his own reasons for loving the new Conservatoire:
8 reasons to love the new Conservatoire
Soon after the opening of the new Library of Birmingham, I overheard this conversation in Brindley Place:
‘What you think of that new library then?’
Shrug.
Sniff.
‘I was bit underwhelmed, really’.
I was reminded of that exchange when I read some of the comments on the design of the new Birmingham Conservatoire. As Malala Yousafzai said of the library, it’s what happens on the inside that counts.
Look at Symphony Hall. We’re proud of it not for what it looks like, but how it works and – especially – how it sounds. It’s the equal of any concert hall on the planet.
So, here are eight reasons why the new Birmingham Conservatoire is, from the inside out, such a huge improvement on anything the city has had before:
1. Double the performance space
It will have twice the number of performance spaces as the current building. As well as replacements for the Adrian Boult Hall and the Recital Hall, there will be a specialist jazz venue: the first in Birmingham since Ronnie Scott’s closed on Broad Street.
Then there’s the experimental performance space, a black box that will take small-scale live action, music and media.
This will support the brilliant work being done by our composition department, which has won recent accolades for its staff and students in BBC Music Magazine and The Sunday Times.
2. Excellent concert acoustics
The new concert halls will have a much higher degree of acoustic treatment, to help coax the best sounds from our young musicians.
3. Better interior acoustics
The corridor acoustics will be far better too. It’s nice to visit the current Conservatoire and hear a trombone booming from one room and a piano sounding heights of rapture from another, but not if you’re trying to practise the harp between the two.
4. Larger recording spaces
There will be a much bigger live room for recording, to take larger ensembles.
5. High-spec recording studios
The recording studios will be of a much higher specification. We’ve been advised on these by one the country’s leading experts.
6. More practice space for students
There are more private practice rooms. That may not mean a lot to some readers, but it’s vital for students.
7. Specialist room for chamber music
A specialist suite of chamber music rooms will be double-height for improved acoustics.
Our strings provision is flourishing, with world-renowned Professors of Violin, Viola and Cello. Recently we hosted an International Viola Competition which drew contestants from across the world.
8. Digitally linked to Birmingham's biggest media production facility
The whole building will be fully digitised and linked to the University’s spectacular suite of Media facilities, creating the technological environment students need for 21 century music education and enterprise. No other UK conservatoire, Royal or not, will have such advantages.
This building will be the pride of the city. Visit the new Birmingham Conservatoire when it opens in 2017 and feel the warmth of its embrace.
No sniffs and shrugs: no one should be the least bit underwhelmed.