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Centre for Music and Arts Technology, Birmingham |
 The Grosvenor Studio Complex in north Birmingham boasts an impressive
musical heritage. Everyone from reggae legend Jimmy Cliff to evergreen
pop star Cliff Richard has recorded at the historic Handsworth
facility.
After falling into decline, the centre’s future musical legacy was looking increasingly uncertain. But today, thanks to the Centre for Music and Arts Technology (CMAT), the Victorian venue is stepping boldly into the 21st century.
CMAT, which grew out of Birmingham a capella quintet Black Voices, plans to use the revamped centre to provide training, resources, guidance and job opportunities within music and arts technology.
‘We have grown out of the local community,’ says CMAT director, Bob Ramdhanie. ‘Learning here won’t be like in town in a glass building with thousands of people. We’ll be small, informal and professional.’
For Handsworth itself, the centre fits perfectly into a wider picture of regeneration. More than 20 years since racial tension and community discontentment escalated into the notorious Handsworth riots, there is a real sense of economic and social progress among the area’s multi-ethnic population.
CMAT hopes the studio complex will complement this growth and give local people meaningful qualifications and paths into employment.
The task of renovating the Grosvenor studio has proved a considerable undertaking. With combined capital costs approaching £2m, the social enterprise has spent several years just trying to secure funding. Even after winning a sizeable grant from the Arts Council, CMAT was left with an £500,000 shortfall.
In early 2007, the ACF provided the lion’s share with a loan of £300,000.
This has enabled renovation work to go ahead and put CMAT on track to meet its planned opening date of September 2007. It will then start to bring in revenue by hiring out the studio and rehearsal space to commercial organisations.
But with the focus on community education, the chief beneficiaries will remain local people, especially those with a passion for music, arts and technology.
‘People are really getting excited about the building now,’ says Bob. ‘We’re just dying for the doors to open.’
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