If it’s been a while since you were in the North East, you might not recognise the cultural vibrancy and excitement that has become the way of life for those who live there. It’s not just lip service that is being paid here to the national ‘regeneration’ catchcry – and it is happening in a big way. Cities across the region are flourishing, but perhaps none more so than Gateshead.
Take a walk along the Gateshead Quays these days and all preconceptions of industrial decline vanish. Yet less than 20 years ago, the area was a depressed shadow of a once great industrial past.
The Quays have a proud history. From the Romans to the Industrial revolution and beyond, this was a focal point for the region’s industry. But the Great Depression took its toll, and by 1970s and 1980s complete decline seemed inevitable.
But in a remarkable 21st Century turnaround, degeneration has become regeneration and these days the place is buzzing. Gateshead Council and partners have injected more than £250 million to make this precinct one to be envied. The luxury hotels, high-rise apartments, bars and restaurants are only part of the story. The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is the only one anywhere in the world that tilts and draws the eye across to a remarkable architectural vista rich with promise for lovers of art and culture.
The £46 million BALTIC project, the Centre for Contemporary Arts, has become one of the biggest and best contemporary art spaces in Europe. The old Baltic Flour Mills have been transformed and in their place is a 3000 square metre ‘arts factory’ of five galleries and media facilities to die for. Rather than housing a permanent collection, artists’ residencies feature at BALTIC. Visitors appreciate the free entry and are able to see artists at work, whether they be painting, sculpting or performing.
The amazing architecture of the new home for music in the North East, The Sage Gateshead, has been taking shape since the foundation stone was laid in May 2000. The five years of planning that preceded this stage was certainly time well-spent. Think iconic world buildings – the Sydney Opera House or Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, for example – and it seems almost certain that this landmark will be joining the list.
Due to open in mid-December, the building has been the creative vision of award winning architectural firm Foster and Partners. A £6 million sponsorship deal – the most generous arts sponsorship agreement with any business ever seen in this country – has given local software giant the Sage Group naming rights. And the building has already won the 2004 Robert Stephenson Award for architectural concept and design.
The firm has also been responsible for many international commissions such as Singapore’s Supreme Court and Tokyo’s Millennium Tower. Closer to home we can thank them for London’s City Hall and the new Wembley Stadium. This is Foster and Partners’ first building for the performing arts, conceived after extensive consultation with audiences and musicians.
The building is currently featured in a display of great concert halls at the ninth architecture exhibition at the 2004 Venice Biennale . It sits amongst work by Le Corbusier and Frank Gehry in a celebration of the architecture of music performance.
The National Lottery has played its part, of course. Thanks to lottery funding, the Arts Council has been able to inject £47.3 million in grants towards the £70 million total cost.
The venue will become home to live music – all kinds of music – in the region. The complex, on four levels, has two concert halls. The larger will seat an audience of up to 1650 people, while the smaller offers a more intimate and flexible performing space accommodating around 450. This hall is believed to be the only ten-sided performing arts space in the world.
But there is far more to this building than the passivity suggested by concert halls. On the same level, the Northern Rock Foundation Hall will provide facilities for performance, rehearsal and music participation. This space will also be home to the Northern Sinfonia, widely regarded as one of the leading chamber orchestras in Europe.
Opportunities to make and compose music will be provided for all, regardless of age or ability. Preschoolers will have plenty of fun as music is demystified for them while community groups and corporations can participate in customised workshops in the 25-room Music Education Centre.
In a variation on the theme of teambuilding through adventure challenge, The Sage Gateshead has developed a programme of corporate music workshops that are designed to be fun, but at the same time develop self-esteem, collaboration and risk-taking. Before the building has officially opened, outreach programmes such as Silver Threads, which offers harmony singing to older people, are already proving immensely popular.
The Sage Gateshead will be open 16 hours a day to the public so that they can explore the café, bars and brasserie, visit the high-tech music resource centre that is being run by Gateshead Libraries or simply wander the glassed concourse that envelops the building and overlooks the river. A solution to the windiness of the site, this concourse offers spectacular views day or night of BALTIC, Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Quays redevelopment.
There is nothing precious or rarified about music here. All manner of music will be heard; all manner of music will be made – from garage to gamelan; from country to classical. As well as being home to Northern Sinfonia, this place is also the heart of Folkworks. From small beginnings, Folkworks has grown to become a nationally recognised body and organizer of folk festivals and tours of local and international artists.
There is a special place for families too, with family-friendly performances; music making events and even facilities to warm up baby food in the brasserie.
It all becomes official on 17 December, but the year has already seen some spectacular events in anticipation. In June, local boy made good, Sting, performed The waters of Tyne as accompaniment to Philippe Petit’s high-wire dash across the gorge to the upper façade of the building.
The opening weekend kicks off at 5pm on the Friday of a jam-packed weekend and it is expected that at least 15,000 people will take advantage of free tickets being provided by the Sage Group to see what the fuss is about and to be among the first to glimpse this landmark building.
Cllr Mick Henry, Leader of Gateshead Council can barely contain his enthusiasm. And why should he?
‘One of the key aims of The Sage Gateshead is that it is accessible to everyone, whatever their age, interest or musical taste and we’re delighted that the opening weekend will set the standard for the whole culture of the building’, he says.
‘Local communities should be the main beneficiaries of all this investment and the opening weekend will be their first chance to get a real taste of what the building has to offer. The completion of the spectacular building is a major milestone in the area’s regeneration that will once again put Gateshead on a world stage and maintain Gateshead’s growing reputation.’
People have been booking tickets for one of nine three-hour time slots where they will enjoy a total musical experience including workshops; informal music on the concourse; performances in one or more of the spaces; a drink in one of the five bars; a coffee, or snack in the café.
General Director of The Sage Gateshead, Anthony Sargent, believes that the opening weekend will set the standard for what is to follow.
‘This tremendous sponsorship cements even further our already very rewarding partnership with Sage. For local people to be able to enjoy our opening weekend free says in the most emphatic possible way that The Sage Gateshead is truly a venue for, and belonging to, its local communities,’ he says.
Artists involved in the opening weekend will include the orchestra of Northern Sinfonia with Music Director Thomas Zehetmair; new wave rock band and Warp Records new signing Maximo Park; world renowned Northumbrian smallpipes player Kathryn Tickell; jazz pianist Alex Wilson and soul singer Juliet Roberts; funk revivalists New Mastersounds; saxophonist Andy Sheppard and contemporary classical musicians The David Paul Jones Quartet.
Night owls can enjoy a ceilidh and an AV-spectacular late on Saturday night and if they are still there early on Sunday they can join in the special singing morning.
Twelve months of world class programming follows almost immediately, linking to NewcastleGateshead’s highly successful Culture 10 programme that runs to 2010. With Culture 10’s prime objective being community participation, The Sage Gateshead is certainly off to a good start. A million people are expected to use the facilities next year alone.
Already the venue is becoming sought after for major international conferences. An early coup has been the securing of WOMEX 2005 for October – the first time that the world’s leading music expo will have been held in Britain. Gateshead has also beaten Brussels and Copenhagen in the bid to secure the 2005 conference for the International Society of Performing Arts (ISPA). Given that previous ISPA conferences have been held in cities such as Berlin, Paris, Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Stockholm, it’s not a bad effort for a ‘dirty old town’.
Yes indeed, things have changed Tyneside. There’s a new confidence, and the arts have played a major role in putting the spring back in the step of those lucky enough to live there. The Angel of the North watches over a vibrant and exciting city. Let the celebrations begin.
