St Mary’s Music School pupils visit new home

PUPILS from St Mary’s Music School have been given a sneaky peek at their new home.

The pupils received a tour around the Old Royal High School building in Edinburgh, which is being converted into the new base for the specialist school, and which will also house a National Centre for Music.

Their tour was led by Richard Austin, a trustee of the Royal High School Preservation Trust – which conserving and restoring the building – and a former pupil of the Royal High School.

Kenneth Taylor, headteacher at St Mary’s Music School, said: “We’re delighted to see the project moving forward.

“The former Royal High School will create a glorious and very fitting setting to nurture and inspire young musicians from Scotland and further afield.

“As a school, to be able to bring education to the heart of the new National Centre for Music, which the site on Carlton Hill will become, opens up huge opportunity for the development of skills and talent for everyone passionate about music and the arts.”

Austin added: “Returning to my old school and talking about it to some of the young folk who will revive the educational role of the Calton Hill site in the 21st century has been both exciting and moving.

“It was good to share my memories of the large octagonal room used for teaching music – it is one of two such large spaces, the other being the school library – and especially of the central Great Hall.

“It is marvellous to know that, with the restoration of the Thomas Hamilton building, these spaces will, once again, become accessible and resound with music.”

The former Royal High School building opened in 1829 and house the school until 1967.

During the 1970s, the site was chosen as the home for the proposed Scottish Assembly.

Read more news and reviews on Scottish Field’s culture pages.

Plus, don’t miss author Alexander McCall Smith’s column in the April issue of Scottish Field magazine.