Musica Viva’s New Building Houses Community Rehearsal Studio

Musica Viva has recently launched a new national office in Sydney and included in the brand new premises is a rehearsal space intended to relieve the pressure on local ensembles struggling to find a rehearsal venue. Musica Viva intends to make this studio available to the wider music community on a cost-neutral basis.

Musica Viva’s new home in Zetland follows thirty years of operations from its Surry Hills headquarters. Officially opened on 14 September by Michael Brealey, CEO of Create NSW, the building in the vibrant Green Square precinct of Sydney was conceived as a hub for Australian music. It includes a purpose-built studio that will be made available to other groups thanks to a generous gift from supporter Janette Hamilton, after whom the studio is named. The Janette Hamilton Studio will provide much-needed space for Musica Viva artists to rehearse, workshop and record their work. From January 2018, independent artists and ensembles can avail themselves of this facility on a cost-neutral basis.

The Goldner String Quartet performing a string quartet by Australian composer Matthew Hindson and Musica Viva In Schools group ‘Adam Hall and the Velvet Players’ were the first to perform in the new space as friends and supporters of Musica Viva gathered to celebrate the move.

Opening the new building, Michael Brealey, CEO of Create NSW said that a new digital production suite, named after visionary arts leader Kim Williams AM, will enable future musicians to become involved in music, minimising the limitations of geographic distance. Various other rooms and facilities in the complex will be named after leaders and supporters of Musica Viva, amongst them the Berg family, Board Director Kathie Grinberg, Ken Tribe and Ira Magid.