Martin Cropper has a passionate love of chamber music. He was brought up locally in a household full of professional musicians. His father founded the Lindsay String Quartet and his mother is the violin teacher Nina Martin. He was awarded a scholarship to study with Howard Davis at the Royal Academy of Music from 1995 to 1999.
He shares his enthusiasm for music between Oakham School and Sheffield’s Music Academy where he is Music Director.
His talk related to the ongoing journey to establish a music conservatoire for South Yorkshire in Canada House, Sheffield, to house the Sheffield Music Academy.
Established in 2006, Sheffield Music Academy provides specialist training for over 150 musicians a year aged between four and 19 who show outstanding ability and potential on their instrument(s).
The Academy’s drive is to inspire excellence so that students can develop their talent, grow in confidence, achieve fulfilment through performance and in turn make positive contributions to the musical activities of their schools and communities. As one of only 15 Centres for Advanced Training in the UK, they receive funding from the Department for Education’s Music and Dance Scheme which offers means-tested bursaries to families. They are also supported by smaller trusts, donors and sponsorship to increase bursary numbers and offer instruments for tuition.
When starting to look for premises for a conservatoire, the Academy sought help from Sheffield School of Architecture. The latter embraced the challenge and made it an exercise for the architecture students. When Canada House came on the market, Sheffield Music Academy, Sheffield Music Hub 17 and Sheffield School of Architecture combined to design and offer guidance on how to seek funding for a conservatoire.
Canada House, a Grade II* Listed building, was originally built as offices for the Sheffield United Gas Light Company in 1875. It remained offices for the Gas Board until 1972, and then, after lying vacant and facing the threat of being torn down by property developers, received its Grade II* Listed building status.
The building was in a dilapidated condition and was on the market for £1.6m but needing £13m of construction work to bring it up to standard.
Appeals for funds are now very much underway and the building has been bought. Much of Martin’s energies are directed towards obtaining the last part of the funding to start planning applications and seeking tenders. The message is that this very worthy and important facility for South Yorkshire is almost there but needs gifts from us all to secure the vision for our children and grandchildren.