Partitions and lowered ceilings in the practice rooms have been stripped out to reveal the original rooms and ornate ceilings from the late 19th Century at the School’s Culford Hall. Two superb performance rooms and two classrooms with interactive whiteboards and modern teaching facilities have been created.
Rooms are also being restored on the first floor to ensure they are better sound-proofed and retained as practice rooms, together with a computer suite for composition.
In the next phase of the music school development, it is hoped to create a recording studio in the cellars where the noisiest of pupil bands can practice, and which we can use to record the musical events that flourish at Culford.
The Music School Development has been made possible through the generosity of Old Culfordian David Beech (1947–1951) and his wife Judy, who offered to match fund monies raised by the Culford School Foundation to restore rooms. An official opening will take place in February.
Donations for the project included a generous donation by an anonymous benefactor, £10,000 from the Old Culfordians Association and money raised from the sponsorship of seats in the School’s Studio Theatre.