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09 June 2009
Leading composer opens University’s Soundhouse
François Bayle, one of the world’s leading composers, visited the
University of Sheffield at the weekend (Saturday 6 June 2009) to
officially open the state-of-the-art Soundhouse building.
The black box development, known as the Soundhouse, is part of the new
Jessop Development site at the University. The innovative rubber-clad
music practice and studio facility allows students to rehearse, practise
and record music in an insulated, soundproof environment.
The new building is situated on the eastern side of Gell Street, close
to the junction with Leavygreave Road in the Portobello area of the
City. Built by Kier Northern, it covers a total of 450 square metres
over three floors and provides practice studios, rehearsal spaces and
recording rooms for the University´s Department of Music, which will
also occupy the Victorian Wing of the old Jessop Hospital for Women.
The building looks like a black quilted cube or `music box´ and is a
bold and simple design that reflects the existing inventiveness in the
Portobello area. Designed by careyjones architects and Jefferson Sheard
Architects, it is three storeys in height and has been designed to
reflect the existing urban area.
François Bayle unveiled a commemorative plaque on the building at the
official opening ceremony on Saturday. Born in 1932 in Madagascar, Bayle
is one of the world's leading composers of acousmatic music. This is a
form of electroacoustic music that deals specifically with acoustmatic
sound - acousmatic sound being a sound one hears without seeing an
originating cause.
He organises concerts and radio broadcasts, supports the development of
technologically advanced musical instruments, founded the Acousmathèque,
a repertoire of some 2000 works composed since 1948, created his own
studio and the record label Magison, and to this date has composed
nearly 100 works.
Director of the University of Sheffield Sound Studios, Dr Adrian Moore
said: “I am extremely pleased with the Soundhouse. We are located in the
centre of town and have one of the most iconic buildings in Sheffield.
It is fitting therefore, that the Soundhouse be opened by Francois
Bayle, a pioneer in the world of music composed with recorded sounds.
Bayle has produced a diverse mix of music and concerts, and it is this
pioneering spirit and Bayle's revolutionary music that the University of
Sheffield Sound Studios and Sound Junction wishes to honour.”
Professor Simon Keefe, Head of the University of Sheffield’s Music
Department, added: “The Department of Music is absolutely delighted with
the Soundhouse. As a highly distinctive, state-of-the-art new building
with practice rooms and studio spaces, it complements very well our
beautifully restored Victorian Jessop Building across the road. The
Soundhouse has already become very popular with our students, and is
getting particularly heavy use at the moment during the practical
examination season.”
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