Colston Hall

Sustainable future of Colston Hall set to be considered

Members of Bristol’s Cabinet, when they meet next week on Thursday, July 22, will consider a new report on the possible options to support music in the city and help secure the long-term, sustainable future of Colston Hall.

The report sets out the advantages of creating a trust to run Colston Hall and a number of options for alternative governance arrangements. The options include the creation of:

· Stand alone Trust or Community Interest Company or
· Partnership with one or more other cultural organisations or
· Strategic Trust with an overview of music needs in Bristol

The experience of other music venues in major UK cities, extensive consultation with key stakeholders, the significant economic contribution the music industry makes to Bristol and Colston Hall’s strengths and weaknesses are all examined in the report.

“Securing a long-term, sustainable future for Colston Hall is a priority," says Councillor Simon Cook, deputy leader and cabinet member with responsibility for culture. "This will ensure everyone in this city gets the opportunity to participate in music as a performer, composer or audience member.

“Colston Hall is the region’s top music venue and one of the best used cultural venues in the city so it’s important we get it right. No one doubts the importance of the music industry and the significant role it plays in our creative economy, so it’s vital we have a close, hard-headed look at all the options and are clear as to how we progress.

“We know from looking at other successful music venues in the UK that there are benefits from a managed move away from council control and constraints. By moving to a new form of governance, Colston Hall will be better placed to forge partnerships and realise and maximise the artistic and financial benefits ‘independence’ brings.”

Phil Gibby, Regional Director of Arts Council England, commented: “Our considerable investment over the years in Colston Hall, St George’s and other music organisations in Bristol has contributed to a thriving cultural scene.

“We are pleased to see that the organisations in Bristol are approaching greater partnership working to deliver an integrated music offer to the city. We look forward with interest to the outcome.”

Christina Coker, CEO of Youth Music, added: "Over the last decade Youth Music has been supporting music education in Bristol, and we are delighted to see that the city intends to recognise the importance of enabling young people to learn music from an early age, and potentially then go on up the ladder to eventually take their place in the music industry.

“It would be great if a music trust for Bristol helped find a way of bringing those world class musicians from the city back to inspire young people to follow them. 'Music at the heart of Bristol' sounds just what we would hope for all our major cities."

Cabinet are recommended to agree to establish an arm’s length organisation to improve the development of music provision in Bristol. This would be the first stage in a phased approach to achieving the option 3 identified in the report (to create a city-wide strategic music trust with an overview of music needs in Bristol) which would in time embrace other providers in the city.

This will be subject to a further report to be prepared on the details of future governance arrangements, which would include: memorandum and articles for the new company; heads of terms for the lease of Colston Hall and detailed business plan and future funding mechanisms.

ENDS
Notes to editors:
A copy of the Cabinet report for July 22, 2010 can be found at www.bristol.co.uk

1. Colston Hall foyer building opened in 2009 with an award winning celebration of Bristol music. The building was the result of a partnership between Bristol City Council (£13m) and Arts Council England (£7m). It is one of the best-used cultural buildings in Bristol (400,000 people a year attending over 200 events) with revenue funding of £900k
from Bristol City Council.

2. Events at Colston Hall this summer and autumn include a wide range of new partnerships, including

July Open air stage at Cabot Circus promoting the best on local musical talent
August Unesco International Slavery Memorial Day organised by Coconut Chilli
Digital
September London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev opens the
International Orchestral Season
October Unchosen Film Season raising the issue of modern day trafficking

3. The education programme at Colston Hall is run by Remix, and funded by Youth Music and Arts Council England. More than 4000 young people, many from disadvantaged communities in the city, enjoyed activities last year, and this summer a wide range of workshops are on offer including Film and Music sessions for teenagers.