Music in Lanark deal hits a bum note

MiL members have moved their £40,000 grand piano from the Musicians’ Room in the Institute at the World Heritage Site to their new home for concerts, Christ Church in Hope Street.

It is a move Music in Lanark did not want to make but felt forced into after recent discussions with hotel management, brokered by Clydesdale MSP Mairi McAllan.

Music in Lanark chairwoman Chrissy Pritchard said: “It was clear that New Lanark Trust was determined to get rid of us and our grand piano in the Musicians’ Room – despite Mairi's intervention.

“On Tuesday, we moved our piano from the Institute to Christ Church in Hope Street where Canon Drew Sheridan is very keen to have us and our piano.

“Our committee values New Lanark and greatly respects the work Arthur Bell, Jim Arnold and many others did to save the village.

“The Trust will find that it is likely to enjoy more financial success if it learns to work with the community. It has lost a good deal of the goodwill that it once enjoyed and it will take a change in attitude by the Trust to begin to repair it.”

A spokesman for the Trust said it could no long afford to provide free accommodation.

He added: “As well as occupying space that could otherwise be productively used for other functions, the energy costs of keeping the room at a specific temperature for the piano were considerable.”

The Musicians’ (Gallery) Room in New Lanark Institute was frequently used for concerts when Robert Owen was at the Mills.

Now it appears that the room – used for the last decade by Music in Lanark for its popular concerts – has been earmarked for other uses.

Having been told they would have to move their £40,000 grand piano out of the room, to enable functions to be held there, Music in Lanark members felt they had little option but to move. Many performers they book need to use the piano.

It’s brought to a close a long relationship between the two charities, for which there was no written agreement.

The Trust, in its statement to the Gazette, said: “The staffing costs of opening and locking the room for Music in Lanark functions and rehearsals meant we were keen to explore MiL making a reasonable contribution towards the accommodation, especially as they do not use the Trust’s bar facilities during concerts but bring in their own drink to sell.

“That MiL decided to move to another venue rather than pay a modest fee for a service they have enjoyed for free, at the Trust’s significant cost over many years, is very disappointing but we wish them well in their new location.”

MiL chairwoman Chrissy Pritchard has pointed out on a number of occasions that the group does not sell drink.

She said: “At the start of MiL’s arrangement with New Lanark, it was the Trust that provided the bar for concerts.

“However, it soon concluded that it was not worthwhile for it to run the bar. Consequently, it was agreed that MiL would run the bar itself. MiL does not sell drink – we give it away and ask for donations. And we stated that we would be happy to revisit this arrangement.”

Despite the charity relying on grants to bring top quality musicians to the area, Music in Lanark was also willing to discuss paying for the accommodation – until being told the grand piano would need to go.

Chrissy said: “I did not refuse to pay for hiring the room but we were told we’d need to remove our piano. In view of this it would be unlikely that we would want to hire the venue as many groups use the piano during their performances.

“It was purchased at the suggestion of Ruth Nye, head of piano at the Yehudi Menuhin School whose students performed for us many years ago. They thought the venue was wonderful but not the piano.

“Thanks to a generous donation from Borders Biscuits, we were able to purchase a new piano and students from the Yehudi Menuhin School have been coming to give a concert every year since, performing at our last concert in New Lanark this May.”

That concert turned out to be the last ever Music in Lanark gig at the world heritage site.

On Tuesday morning, the movers carefully removed the piano from the Gallery Room and transported it to its new home.

Luckily, Music in Lanark has been warmly welcomed by Canon Drew Sheridan at Christ Church in Lanark and the piano is now in situ.

Chrissy added: “We’re very grateful that Drew was able to offer us and our piano a new home. We haven’t yet finalised our new season of concerts but it’s a stunning venue and we’re sure our loyal audiences will agree.”