Raising a glass to 20 years of music making

The Glasshouse was founded with ambitious goals, guided by principles that shape everything it does. These principles focus on excellence and inclusion while striving to transform access to international performance, music education and participation for the entire North East community, regardless of income or financial resources, with a global outlook and impact.

These principles are reflected in an aspirational building combining a music education centre, rehearsal space, gig venues, conference facilities and a vast open-plan public area.

It was designed with world beating acoustics, an awe-inspiring location overlooking the Tyne, a democratic and open layout with a covered ‘town-square’, one set of front doors for every single person, and the same place to eat for an international musician on a world tour, a person with dementia in a choir, our technicians and front of house teams, a foster family building lifelong ties through weekly music workshops, and a youngster aspiring to a life in music.

Firm principles, established at a time of optimism around the millennium, saw the charity clock up many firsts: the first lottery grant outside London, the first cultural charity to set up an endowment, the first major naming deal in the 21st century, and the highest proportion of earned income in its funding model outside the capital.

And most strikingly, it became the first cultural building and charity set up to deliver the same scale of music education and community participation as the volume of gigs each year. And a huge volume at that – 500 and 30,000 classes or workshops every year. With all genres of music represented, including a full permanent orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia.

An iconic symbol

The charity has taken a full 20 years to really find its groove. It has achieved a huge amount, but it has taken time to reach full maturity, fully understand what it can realistically do in the world and determine how best to live these principles in 21st century Britain. 

There are plenty of reasons why it might not have worked. Despite that, we have generated over half a billion pounds in economic benefit for the region, and our building has become an iconic symbol of the North East, more often than not appearing in images representing the area around the world.

It is hard to encapsulate our value to individual lives. People and communities face complex challenges and needs, and there is no single solution to deliver better life chances for everyone.

The Glasshouse has shown that access to culture and music can be a way of creating better life chances. We can’t claim to be the solution. But we can claim to be part of the solution. We’re part of the economic and social fabric of the North East and the nation.

Enormous risk

So how has the charity achieved maturity? Honestly, I’d say the main factor has been sticking at it. Eyes high on the ambitions, not giving up when something doesn’t work, listening hard to all of the communities we are here to serve – across the North East, young people, emerging professional musicians, international artists and partners – and finding a way to respond to all of this as a single, coherent body of activity and way of being in the world.

The risk of trying to be everything to everyone – and as a consequence, becoming hugely confusing and unfocused – was enormous.

As we turn 20 there’s a new sense of purpose in the North East. With a new Combined Authority pulling all parts of the region together politically and partly economically, there is a focus on what the region’s real superpowers can be. Growth driven by green energy and the creative sector is this focus.

100 years ago: steam and coal; community choirs and brass bands. Now: wind and electricity; singer-songwriters, digital content and writing. From these areas come social and economic growth – the foundations for a positive life in the region: jobs, community, education and wellbeing. They provide export opportunities for the region and create reasons for the wider world to invest in the North East. 

New energy in the region’s music scene

Building on the success of the last two decades, we’re meeting the challenge of changing times. The Music Academy will double the number of young people that can study music, and we’ll create a new, inclusive youth ensemble for disabled and non-disabled musicians. Our Music Pass will provide free access to live music for all newborns in the region, helping to ensure that everyone can experience the transformative power of music from an early age

Next June, we’ll celebrate the next generation of musicians emerging from the region – particularly through digital work – marking a new energy in musicians and the music scene across the region.

Newcastle Gateshead and Sunderland are driving forward their ambitions to become Music Cities, signalling the growing importance of music to the economy, tourism and identity of the region. A celebration of the change in music education, professional support and audience volume – signalling the scale of music activity now going on. This isn’t just what The Glasshouse is doing – it’s what has been stimulated in other new activity alongside our programme.

Our founding principles have kept the charity on its toes. Nobody could say it has been dull over the last 20 years – or that it will be in the next 20. But it was absolutely right to set the bar high. We’re raising a glass to the next 20 years and the next generation we hope to serve.