The Northern Beaches Performance Venue (NBPV) is a proposed indoor venue that ideally would seat approximately 1000 people. It is envisaged that the venue will house large instrumental ensembles including orchestras and bands from the Northern Beaches in both concert and rehearsal.
An early concept of the NBPV
Rehearse
A rehearsal venue for musical ensembles giving many community and school groups the opportunity to rehearse regularly in the venue.
Perform
Many community and school musical ensembles will have the opportunity to perform in a modern venue.
Learn
Students will have the opportunity to learn their instruments individually and in small groups within the venue.
Events
Great opportunity to host music festivals and other large events within the venue.
A large auditorium would accommodate larger community ensembles. This would allow these ensembles to rehearse and perform at the same high-quality venue, something the Northern Beaches currently lacks. Furthermore, having the community ensembles housed in the venue would provide a musical link with individual teachers as they would (and do) play in these ensembles.
Ideally the venue would have at least 10 small practice rooms to facilitate individual music lessons. An instrumental music school could operate after school hours to assist students in their development as a musician. Larger intermediate sized rooms would enable smaller ensembles to rehearse, useful for chamber ensembles, stage bands and rock bands.
This is extremely beneficial to not only students but their families and peers by having a centralised music facility to both rehearse and perform.
The venue would be able to host a range of musical examinations and adjudications, including a local centre for Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) as opposed to travelling to city locations.
In addition to the possibilities outlined above in Rehearsal Rooms, the venue would also operate as a centre of music education with private lessons being provided to individuals throughout the day.
As the envisaged building is first and foremost a performing venue, elevating the audience experience would be at the centre of its design. The main auditorium would be designed with exceptional acoustics for all ensemble types, an element severely lacking from the repurposed school gymnasiums currently housing our ensembles and events. The audience could also enjoy comfortable, stage viewable seating in a climate controlled environment.
If a large foyer was included in the venue, local artists could display their works, while musicians, audience members and parents of students could meet in a social setting with food and beverages having been brought in from a house cafe.
Unlike most council areas, the Northern Beaches does not have a dedicated music venue to host students and community ensembles, tuition nor performances. As most with children, family or perhaps yourself a musician would know, most school and community ensemble rehearsals and performances are hosted on school grounds. The facilities available to ensembles and audience members are outdated and not tailored to music performance, with most public school halls being repurposed gymnasiums built over 30 years ago.
Furthermore, music events are a real struggle for our conductors and teachers to put together as they often have to compete with school events reserving halls and performance spaces. This includes but is not limited to NAPLAN examinations, HSC examinations, presentations and special assemblies, student teacher interviews, mufti days and special events, incursions, gym and sport classes, musicals, and existing weekly school and community ensemble rehearsals. This is on top of the availability of their students and musicians which is greatly influenced by extracurricular activities and holiday periods. A great deal of work is often required to plan, set-up and pack up halls before and after events.
As such, compared to the opportunities available in other council areas, the Northern Beaches is missing out through its lack of spaces with quality acoustics, audience comfort, amenities and the convenience of a local and centralised music venue to benefit all musicians, students, parents and the community.