... AND LOOKING FORWARD From Coates Hall to Calton Hill

After a brief period in chemical research, Dr Kenneth Taylor became a secondary school teacher of Chemistry and Physics in 1997, working in three Edinburgh schools before taking up the post of Head of Science at Peebles High School. In 2009 he became Depute Headteacher at Biggar High School and, in 2013, was appointed Headteacher of St Mary’s Music School.

As you look forward to the move to Calton Hill, what will be the biggest changes? How will you take the character of the School from Coates Hall into a new, state-of-the-art environment?

“I believe that a school is more to do with the people and how they interact with one another than about the physical building they’re in. This School has a wonderful ethos where young musicians work with their teachers and peers to develop and enrich their individual musical gifts. For over 25 years Coates Hall has been home to all of this. The building enabled the School to expand and develop and allowed us to offer high quality music and academic education to our pupils, provide a home for up to 35 boarding pupils and host around 150 children each week at our Saturday Music Classes. However, Coates Hall is now full to bursting and has never provided the performance space to allow us to invite more than a handful of guests to hear our pupils perform here.

The old Royal High School building occupies an historic and prominent site in Edinburgh, so it’s an entirely fitting home for us as Scotland’s National Music School. As well as sound-proofed practice rooms, larger rooms for ensemble rehearsals, a recording studio, purpose-built boarding facilities and academic classrooms, the new building incorporates a Concert Hall which will enable us to engage with the public as never before – it’s a hugely exciting prospect.”

What will the new building enable you to do that you can’t do from Coates Hall?

“The size of the new building and the facilities it offers will be the biggest game changers. We’ll be able to open ourselves up more to the community and collaborate more closely and more regularly with other music organisations. I’m particularly looking forward to being able to host our own public masterclasses as, at the moment we need to borrow other venues. Masterclasses are an inspiring and valuable experience for young musicians and the new building will allow us to share those more widely, with more young musicians and music teachers from all over Scotland able to take part. The new facilities will allow us to enhance the education we offer our primary classes as well as offer a range of music lessons for older students from other schools in Edinburgh.”

On that note, how important do you think accessibility is in a musical context – both in terms of St Mary’s Music School pupils and in the way the new building will open up wider music opportunities for all?

“The Scottish Government Aided Places Scheme offers a unique and generous opportunity for any child with musical potential to access the specialist music education we provide. Families make an affordable contribution according to their means, and some of our pupils pay no fees at all. Working with new and well-established partners alike, I believe the new building will enable us to engage with new generations of young people with the talent and potential to benefit from our specialist music education. We also anticipate that a wide range of workshops, masterclasses, concerts, music teaching and ensemble work will all have their part to play in opening up music opportunities to all.”

Finally, how does it feel to know that St Mary’s Music School will be responsible for breathing new life into a significant building that has lain empty for so long?

“It seems entirely right that this iconic building will, once again, be being used in the way it was originally intended –namely, education. It will be a great honour for St Mary’s Music School – as Scotland’s National Music School –to make its new home on Calton Hill.”

“I play the viola, piano and organ and I enjoy singing. In my previous schools, I often accompanied pupils and choirs for examinations – however, my services have rarely been required here at St Mary’s Music School! That said, I do maintain an interest in performing through the Bach Ensemble of Edinburgh, which has given concerts for the past ten years in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.”

Dr Kenneth Taylor | Headteacher