23 September 2009
Centre for Young Musicians joins Guildhall School
London’s Centre for Young Musicians has today (23 September
2009) become a department of the renowned Guildhall School of Music
& Drama, following a contract agreed by the City of London
Corporation and Westminster City Council.
The Centre for Young Musicians, which will remain based at
Morley College in central London, opened in 1970 and provides high
quality music training to thousands of young people from across the
capital, regardless of their background or ability to pay. The CYM
is recognised as a Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) under the
Department for Children, Schools and Families’ (DCSF) Music and
Dance Scheme, and its flagship London Schools Symphony Orchestra
performs regularly at the Barbican Centre.
Effective from today, the Centre will move from Westminster City
Council’s control to the City of London Corporation, which founded
and funds Guildhall School, and provides local government services
to the ‘Square Mile’, which it promotes as a world-leading
international financial and business centre.
The transfer will significantly increase the critical mass of
outreach work already undertaken by Guildhall Connect and
Junior Guildhall, alongside the LSO’s Discovery and On
Track schemes. This exciting opportunity will further promote
equal access and develop provision of life-long music education and
instrumental tuition to young people in 32 London boroughs, while
realising full and unique advantage of the education and outreach
programmes offered by a partnership between the London Symphony
Orchestra (LSO), Guildhall School and the Barbican Centre.
Professor Barry Ife, Principal of Guildhall School of Music
& Drama, said: “This new partnership with the CYM firmly
establishes Guildhall School as the largest provider of specialist
music education in the United Kingdom. We look forward to working
with our new colleagues to ensure the greatest possible and lasting
impact on young people’s lives.”
Stuart Fraser, Policy Chairman of the City of London
Corporation, said: "The City of London's decision to take on
responsibility for the Centre for Young Musicians reinforces our
commitment to young people and the arts, and builds on its
investment in Guildhall School. I am sure that the students will
continue to flourish at the Centre, as it becomes part of the
School, which has gained an enviable reputation for producing
exceptional talent."
Stephen Dagg, CYM Director, said: "I am absolutely delighted
that London's Centre for Young Musicians is to join a campus which
already boasts such illustrious names as the Barbican Centre,
Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the London Symphony
Orchestra, under the aegis of the City of London Corporation. I am
confident that CYM's very special spirit can enhance the life-long
learning and performing culture of this vibrant, new and exciting
partnership."
Cllr Mark Page, Westminster Council's cabinet member for
children and young people, said: "The transferring of
responsibility from Westminster to the City of London is a really
positive move for the Centre for Young Musicians, because it will
give the centre renewed focus and benefit hundreds of young
musicians across the capital."
Ends
For further information:
Deborah MacCallum, Director of Student and Corporate Affairs,
Guildhall School of Music & Drama, telephone 020 7382 7117,
email
deborah.maccallum@gsmd.ac.uk
Andrew Buckingham, Press Officer, City of London Corporation,
telephone 020 7332 1452 or mob: 07795 333 060; email
andrew.buckingham@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Notes for Editors:
Guildhall School of Music & Drama is one of
Europe's leading conservatoires, offering musicians, actors, stage
managers and theatre technicians an inspiring environment in which
to develop as artists and professionals. The School, funded by the
City of London Corporation, is based at the Barbican Centre and has
over 800 full-time music and drama students, with a growing
international reputation for its teaching and research. More than a
third of the School's students are currently from outside the UK
and represent over 40 nationalities.
The City of London Corporation, which provides
local government services for the ‘Square Mile’, the financial and
commercial heart of Britain, works nationally and internationally
to maintain and enhance the City as a world-leading international
financial and business centre. Its other special responsibilities
and services to London and the wider UK include the Barbican
Centre, Tower Bridge, the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey,
10,000 acres of open space including Hampstead Heath and Epping
Forest, three wholesale food markets, two inner-London City
Academies, the City Bridge Trust and acting as London’s Port Health
Authority. The Lord Mayor of the City of London (currently Ian
Luder) works extensively at home and abroad to promote the
City.