Keeping the music alive in the city
At its meeting on 8 December, the city council’s cabinet is being asked to consider selling Barbican House to Gloucestershire Academy of Music to ensure musical opportunities for local residents remain in the city centre.
For nearly 40 years Gloucestershire Academy of Music (GAM) has been creating musical opportunities for all ages and abilities, from individual music lessons and group sessions to performances, courses, workshops and masterclasses.
Barbican House would provide GAM with a secure, accessible and sustainable home allowing it to build on and improve its services, as well as continuing to provide an important base as a multi-cultural centre for other arts organisations.
Cllr Hannah Norman, Deputy Leader of Gloucester City Council, said: “Gloucestershire Academy of Music is such a fantastic organisation that provides valuable skills to the young people in our communities. With cabinet approval, the academy can put down permanent roots in this vibrant part of the city and continue to offer professional tuition and workshops for all musicians.”
Kirsty Winnan, Gloucestershire Academy of Music’s Executive Director, said: “Securing Barbican House as our permanent home is an important step for us as a long-standing and much-valued arts charity as well as for the wider community which benefits from what we have to offer.
“With our location secured, we would be able to focus our energies on providing excellent musical opportunities for all our participants, both young and old, into the foreseeable future. GAM prides itself on being inclusive and diverse as well as providing high standards of tuition, which is accessible to all through its bursary fund. It plays an important role in helping shape the cultural landscape of this great city and county.”
Further information about Gloucestershire Academy of Music is available at https://glosacadmusic.org.