Plans approved for new ‘world-class’ National Centre for Music in Edinburgh
Hattie Fisk
Friday, October 8, 2021
It is hoped the new centre will 'deliver and enhance' music education for students from all backgrounds across Scotland.
Proposals submitted by the Royal High School Preservation Trust (RHSPT) for the restoration of the Thomas Hamilton building on Calton Hill have been approved, with plans confirmed for a new state of the art centre for music education and public performance.
A number of organisations partnered with the RHSPT in the proposal to Edinburgh council last month, including St Mary’s Music School, the Benedetti Foundation and IMPACT (International Music and Performing Arts Charitable Trust) Scotland.
The bid is backed by donations from Carol Colburn Grigor and Dunard Fund that total £55 million, covering the capital costs of the renovation and future maintenance of the Thomas Hamilton building.
William Gray Muir, chairman of the RHSPT, said: ‘We are thrilled that our shared vision for a new world-class centre for music education and public performance can move forward at last.
‘The project has brought together an unprecedented range of partners, all of whom recognise collaboration as the key to realising Scotland's potential as a world leader in music education, and creating an entirely new way for the nation to engage with and enjoy classical music.’
A CGI of RHSPT's plan for the centre
Dr Kenneth Taylor, headteacher at St Mary’s Music School, said: ‘This is a truly exciting day for St Mary’s Music School. Not only does it bring us a huge step closer to having a new home for the school; it also places us at the centre of a project that will deliver and enhance world-class music education for people from all backgrounds across Scotland in a setting that will be second to none.
‘Our thanks in particular go to Dunard Fund, whose unfailing generosity has enabled us to be central to the shared vision of creating a new platform for musical collaborations, both within the building, online and out in the wider community.’
Nicola Benedetti, founder and artistic director of the Benedetti Foundation, said: ‘Music, when created, played and listened to with integrity, allows us to strip away all that separates us and urges us to see and feel what unites us. The National Centre for Music presents us with an unprecedented opportunity to enrich the cultural life of Scotland and to serve as a beacon of true 21st century music education for the world to see.’
