Creating diverse musicians at Birmingham

Birmingham Conservatoire’s new home – a £57m state-of-the-art building – opens its doors on 11 September, which together with a merger by the Conservatoire with the city’s School of Acting and University media and recording facilities offers unrivalled opportunities to creative students. Nicola Bland reports.

Current and future students at Birmingham Conservatoire will head into a new era at the UK’s third highest ranked conservatoire (Guardian Guide 2018) from September with a move into a new £57m teaching and performance facility. Described as ‘the first of its kind in the digital age and the perfect fusion of traditional and contemporary,’ the new home is the first complete, new-build conservatoire in the UK since 1987 and offers “unrivalled opportunities for our students” says Head of Brass, Chris Houlding, who added, “audio and video digital infrastructure is designed to enhance and support live performance, as well as to allow students to experiment with new technologies.”

The 9,000 Square metre new building contains five public performance spaces, including a new concert hall for orchestral training and performance, Eastside Jazz Club, along with ensemble rehearsal, practice rooms and teaching spaces for performers from a variety of disciplines.

Birmingham Conservatoire’s relocation to the new building on the city centre site of Birmingham City University, just metres from the current Birmingham School of Acting and Birmingham City University’s media and recording facilities, coincides with the…

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