Submitted proposals offer a ‘game-changer’ for music education in Scotland

The Royal High School Preservation Trust (RHSPT) has submitted proposals for the Thomas Hamilton building on Calton Hill to be restored as a world-class centre for music education and performance in Scotland. 

Originally devised in response to City of Edinburgh Council’s search for a long-term use for the old Royal High School (designed by architect Thomas Hamilton), the vision has evolved into a new National Centre for Music. 

Scotland’s national music school, St Mary’s Music School, is at the heart of the project, having received planning permission in 2016. Alongside the school, the updated proposals have united partner organisations like the Benedetti Foundation and IMPACT (International Music and Performing Arts Charitable Trust) Scotland.

Aerial view showing the RHSPT vision for the site on Calton Hill

If the proposals are accepted, it is hoped that the new centre will have clearly defined spaces for classical music education, community access, engagement and performance, and that it will benefit the whole of Scotland. 

William Gray Muir, chairman of the Royal High School Preservation Trust said: ‘The passage of time from 2016 to 2021 has allowed us to consult on and revise some aspects of our design proposal and to evolve our ambitions for the building to create a vision for a new National Centre for Music. 

‘In doing so we have brought in new partners in IMPACT Scotland and the Benedetti Foundation, who with us and St Mary’s Music School see this project as a means to create an entirely new way for everyone to engage with and enjoy classical music and the arts. It has the potential to show Scotland and Edinburgh at a new vanguard of classical music education and cultural inclusion.’

RHSPT plans include a public garden, alongside a café, gallery and visitor centre

In August 2021, the RHSPT commissioned an independent poll about the plans, finding that 76 per cent of 1,622 respondents across Scotland agreed that a National Centre for Music is a suitable use for the building, while 66 per cent agreed that the old Royal High should be used for cultural rather than commercial purposes. In Edinburgh, 82 per cent of 533 local residents supported the building’s use as a National Centre for Music.

RHSPT has been campaigning since 2015 to bring together St Mary's Music School and the old Royal High. 

Dr Kenneth Taylor, headteacher at St Mary’s Music School, said: ‘As partners of the project for the past six years, we have worked closely with the RHSPT to help evolve the vision for a National Centre for Music which will build strongly on our expertise for music education for the widest number of young people in Scotland. 

‘To be at the heart of the Trust’s proposals, with a specially designed school building, performance and rehearsal spaces, as well as new opportunities for our pupils to engage with the wider community is simply exhilarating. The school is energised by the prospect of a new centre for music on Calton Hill.’

Laura Gardiner, director at the Benedetti Foundation added: ‘By harnessing each organisation's specialisms and enabling true partnership working, the National Centre for Music has the potential to be a game-changer for music education in Scotland.’

The proposals are backed by £55m from Carol Colburn Grigor and the Dunard Fund, and have been tested for economic sustainability by BOP Consulting, with predictions nearing a £100m contribution to Edinburgh’s economy over 30 years. 

More information can be found at www.rhspt.org.