Lloyd Matthew has been involved in music education for the past 30 years, having taught at secondary, middle and primary school levels across the island.

That is until he took an early "retirement" in order to fill the position of music director for the Bermuda School of Music two months ago.

"I welcomed the change," he told The Royal Gazette. "It is a great opportunity for me to work with young people again and I'll be working with middle school aged pupils, which will be very challenging and rewarding because they have such incredible energy and enthusiasm."

Even though Mr. Matthew had only been in the former Old Colony Club premises for a month, he welcomed the move to the new premises. The main reason — size.

The school has expanded from 5,000 square feet to 7,500 square feet and all this extra space means there's room to grow. For the first time students have a multi-purpose room with a stage where they can perform recitals for their parents and fellow students.

This will also solve a major issue the school had before in accommodating families and friends who wished to attend these performances and according to General Manager, Greg Smith, this new room can easily accommodate up to 65 people.

Spread out over two floors, the school's studios are much larger than they were at the former premises.

"A considerable amount of money has gone into renovating the studios. I personally feel the environment in which music is taught is important because musicians need beautiful surroundings to be true artists," Mr. Matthew added.

The school offers instruction in piano, voice, organ, recorder, flute, saxophone, clarinet, guitar (classic and electric), percussion and all string and brass instruments.

There are also classes in music theory, composition, conducting and jazz studios and while most of the students are of school age, participants in their various programmes include every age group — from infants to retirees.

"Music is very important to all young people and it requires the right individual to bring out their talent, and their gifts. I believe that teachers' personalities play a major role. Young people look for a genuineness in a teacher and want to make sure that the teacher is caring," he added.

"They are also very anxious to be involved in making music. It's not like you can reinvent the university music appreciation course at this level, but you must involve them in the actual process."

The new school, located at the old Berkeley School site, will be home to 20 teachers and over 1,000 students — some of whom don't physically visit the school, but instead have teachers come to them as part of the school's community initiative programme.

Mr. Matthew invites anyone interested in studying music, not just youngsters, but also adults, to visit the school.

"We have a large group of committed adult students. Some have just begun their music education. Others are returning to instruments they studied as children and all of them understand the pleasure music can provide throughout life," Mr. Matthew concluded.