When the Bermuda School of Music was informed in January this year that their premises at the Old Colony Club had been sold, the future of the school seemed bleak.

Moving 20 teachers, equipment, which included 17 pianos and more than 1,000 students to new premises, was a daunting task, especially when there was nowhere to move to.

However when part of the former Berkeley School property became available in May, the music school jumped at the chance to move in.

On June 25th renovations began to transform the old building into a modern school with studios, offices and even two large multifunction rooms for recitals and concerts.

As General Manager Greg Smith explains, renovations to the 7,500 square foot property allowed them to create not only individual offices for all their administration staff — something they had never had before — but also customised studios.

However the two multifunction rooms, in particular the larger of the two which has a stage and can easily seat up to 65 people, is the most impressive feature of the new school.

"We're very happy to have this concert room because it increases our space for studio concerts that we host each term.

"In the past, because we've been between 60 and 70 people, we've had to go to church halls and sometimes we have had to pay for that, but it now means we can have in-house studio concerts and lunch time concerts on the premises," says Mr. Smith.

The multifunction rooms will also be used for Kindermusik classes and larger violin group classes.

However, because the school is a registered charity and, as Mr. Smith says, "they're not in the business of making a profit," they depend on individuals and companies to not only raise money for their bursary scheme, but also to cover these renovations, which have made quite a dent in their coffers.

"This renovation has been a major cost. The original estimate was $1.4 million and we have decided to split the work into phases. The first phase cost about $900,000 to create the studio and office spaces," Mr. Smith explains.

"We have raised more than $720,000 from companies and individuals and we're hoping that more companies will donate. We also encourage our parents to get involved by offering them a plaque for $200 or $500, depending on size. So we're hoping to still raise a considerable amount of money."

Following a two month break and seven weeks at the old property, students started classes at the new facility last Monday. "We had planned to be in by September, but until we got the lease, we weren't prepared to start the renovations," explains Mr. Smith.

"We negotiated a 20-year lease, which made it viable for us to spend a million plus, and if we had had more time, we might have considered buying property. But this would have meant much more fundraising and we also had to get out of the Old Colony Club in a hurry."

During phase two Mr. Smith is hoping to have an elevator installed, or at least a ramp at the rear of the building for wheelchair accessibility and also for mothers, many of whom bring their children to Kindermusik classes in a stroller.

As for the future of the school, Mr. Smith, who has been general manager for seven years now, explains that their professional faculty members, of which almost a third are Bermudian, will continue to bring to the school extensive experience as both teachers and performers.

"They are dedicated to providing musical excellence for all. In performance, they provide an invaluable resource for the community and in education they offer programmes at all levels and are committed to helping students develop their abilities at their own pace," he says.

"Whether a student's goal is a career in music or artistic enjoyment, the seeds are sown for a lifelong love of music."

Thanks to more than $40,000 in bursaries, instruction is genuinely available to all students who would otherwise be unable to study for financial reasons and these include some 300 students who receive free string lessons at two Government Primary Schools and three Community Centres across the island.

Mr. Smith concludes that the school is well equipped to provide excellent instruction in performances and theory exams of Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music in the UK, or the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada.

In fact a number of the Bermuda School of Music's students have gone on to pursue further studies at the undergraduate level, while a handful of students have been prepared to take their music teacher training (Licentiate) exams through the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music.