University News Last updated 06 February 2015
Birmingham planners have given the green light for a brand new Conservatoire to be built in the Eastside region of the City.
The new building is set to open its doors to students in 2017 and will provide unrivalled performance space and acoustical quality to ensure Birmingham City University continues its 130 year history of producing talented musicians and performers.
The facility will be a first complete new build Conservatoire in the UK since 1987, and will offer state-of-the-art facilities that will give current and prospective students' first-class teaching provision. Plans comprise five performance venues, including a public concert hall with the capacity for over 450 seats, plus a recital hall with 150 seats and smaller experimental music space, organ and jazz rooms. There will also be more than 70 music practice rooms of various sizes.
During a long history the world-renowned Birmingham Conservatoire has earned an international reputation for excellence in music teaching, research and performances and can boast a wealth of high profile graduates, including the award winning singer/songwriter Laura Mvula and classical singer, theatre actor and TV presenter Rhydian Roberts. Vice-Chancellor Professor Cliff Allan said:
Professor Allan added: "Designed by leading architects Feilden Clegg Bradley, who have won more RIBA awards than any other UK practice, the new Conservatoire will ensure our students and audiences get best value from the building. Right now we run nearly 300 public events a year, and that number will increase in the new facility. This will be a people's Conservatoire, and come 2017 our hope is that all Birmingham will want to experience the wonders of a concert experience in our new building."
Building work will begin in the summer of 2015 and is scheduled for completion in summer 2017. It will be situated alongside Millennium Point, adjacent to Jennens Road in Eastside and in the heart of the City's learning quarter, which is already home to Birmingham City University's City Centre Campus, the ThinkTank Museum, and the Birmingham Ormiston Academy.
More about the Conservatoire developments