“The BBC plans to close its Maida Vale studios after 84 years and move its live music base to Stratford in east London,” writes Jim Waterson in Tuesday’s (6/5) Guardian (U.K.). “The world-famous studios have hosted thousands of performances ranging from the Beatles to Beyoncé to Girls Aloud, in addition to hosting the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The studios were originally constructed in 1909 as a short-lived rollerskating venue. The BBC took over the building in the 1930s.… However, the distinctive and unusual building is in a residential area and contains asbestos…. The BBC hopes to relocate most of Maida Vale’s functions to a new complex in the Stratford Waterfront development in the Olympic Park by 2023. The site will contain recording and rehearsal studios, providing a purpose-built base for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC Singers, as well as being used regularly by the BBC Concert Orchestra.… The BBC will also partner with local education groups on other music projects [to] ‘share our music facilities and expertise with local, diverse communities,’ [said] James Purnell, the BBC’s director of radio and education.”
Posted June 6, 2018
