The Week in Light & Sound
- Details
Training Network - Guildhall School of Music and Drama is to roll-out a national training network in performance and production for children and young people, as it looks to "broaden the country’s talent pipeline". The Guildhall Young Artists network incorporates five existing centres across England, plus an online centre for remote study, and offers a range of one-to-one training, group lessons and holiday courses in both music and drama.
The network includes the Centre for Young Musicians in Waterloo, Junior Guildhall at the Barbican, plus centres in King’s Cross, Norwich and Taunton, with each site run in partnership with local arts venues and education providers.
Signing Off - US rock 'n' roll band Aerosmith have announced a farewell tour to mark more than five decades together. The band, who are now all in their 70s, are well known for hits such as Dream On, Walk This Way and I Don't Want To Miss A Thing. They broke the "earth-shattering" news in a video on Monday, featuring celebrity pals including Sir Ringo Starr, Dolly Parton and Eminem. "It's not goodbye it's peace out!" they declared in a joint statement. "Get ready and walk this way, you're going to get the best show of our lives."
Brixton Petition - A petition to save the O2 Academy Brixton from permanent closure has reached 50,000 signatures. The south London venue had its licence suspended after two people died during a crush outside the building ahead of a gig by Afro-pop singer Asake last year. The petition was set up after the Met Police said it was seeking for the licence to be revoked. Academy Music Group (AMG), which runs the venue, said its proposals would "enable the venue to reopen safely".
The licence was suspended following the deaths of nursing graduate Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, from Newham, east London, who was a mother of two children; and Gaby Hutchinson, 23, from Gravesend in Kent, who was a security contractor working at the venue. In the days and weeks following the crush, concerns were raised over the strength of the venue's doors and staffing levels, including whether there was enough medical cover.
Final Show - One of the UK's biggest and most well-known nightclubs is closing its doors, after holding a final show. Printworks originally opened in 2017 and has played host to the Chemical Brothers, Deadmau5 and Aphex Twin. The south London venue, which once housed the largest printing presses in Western Europe, was only meant to hold club nights temporarily. Events company Broadwick Live became caretakers and established the space as the go-to for all dance music genres. It is now set to become an office block, but there are hopes within the clubbing community that a space for them will be saved within its walls.
Nipper’s Back - The original central London HMV store is to reopen later this year after a four-year absence. The century-old music shop chain shut its flagship store in 2019 after going into administration. It was then taken over by Sunrise Records. It said the return to 363 Oxford Street was due to a "dramatic turnaround", with HMV returning to profit in 2022. The store will have different branding and a new layout. The store, which first opened in 1921, became a world-famous presence on London's busiest shopping street, hosting some of the biggest acts in the music business, such as the Spice Girls.
At Risk - Revised plans for the restoration of the Brighton Hippodrome still raise "significant concerns" regarding the future viability of the venue, according to the Theatres Trust. In October last year, the trust warned that redevelopment proposals for the venue from developer Matsim Properties were "highly compromised" and would prevent the building’s return to hosting full-scale theatre. The Hippodrome has been on the Theatres Trust’s Theatres at Risk register since it began in 2006 and stopped being used more than a decade ago.
Matsim Properties has now submitted revised proposals for the scheme to Brighton and Hove City Council for the restoration, renovation, part demolition works and extensions to the Hippodrome. The aim of the proposals is to create a new mixed-use development including a performance space, office space, a new hotel building, a restaurant/cafe and a rooftop bar and terrace. The Theatres Trust welcomed that revisions had been made to the proposals, stating that these "go some way towards addressing previous concerns and objections", and citing in particular the removal of offices from the fly tower and the addition of a rehearsal space.
(Jim Evans)
2 May 2023
