Venue's help made music lessons 'affordable'

A mother has said getting music scholarships for her children when she was on a zero-hours contract made lessons affordable.

Matti Imarhiagbe's children Etania, 14, Eliannah, 13, and Isaiah, 12, are among hundreds who get subsidised tuition at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead.

Bosses at the quayside venue, which opened 20 years ago, said they now planned to open a music academy for young people, with the aim of it becoming one of the most affordable in Europe.

Ms Imarhiagbe said the centre's financial support was "amazing" and had given her children access to lessons they loved.

She grew up in South Africa during apartheid and said music offered people a "tool of resilience" at the time and it was an important part of her life.

Ms Imarhiagbe wants to make other parents aware financial help is available.

"For me, being able to get scholarships for my children when I was on a zero-hours contract was amazing," she said.

"I want everyone to know about the funding help you can get.

"As a parent, you want your children to access these things but some of them are really inaccessible and unaffordable, but here there is something for everyone."

She also believes access to the programmes helps "encourage diversity".

Etania, who plays the euphonium, said music had helped her mental health and the tuition she received was "amazing".

Isaiah said the music programmes were "better than school" and Eliannah said coming together to play with her peers was "incomparable".

Abigail Pogson, managing director at the venue, said: "This place is for everyone and it should be financially accessible through bursaries and ticket deals."

The centre, formerly known as Sage Gateshead, currently offers bursaries for musical tuition for children from the age of four and Ms Pogson said it planned to offer a further £500,000 in bursaries.

Adam Wood, 28, grew up playing his dad's steel drums in Heaton, Newcastle.

He remembers drawing the Glasshouse as a primary school child with friends, likening it to a "shiny slug".

He sang in choirs and joined the young musicians programme where he learnt to play the trumpet.

Mr Wood went on to study at the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music, before returning to the North East.

He now plays professionally for the Royal Northern Sinfonia and said the youth music programmes were key to him discovering his love for classical music.

'I'm still pinching myself - it's crazy," Mr Wood said.

"I've been here just under a year and it's incredible.

"I never really thought this would happen. The orchestra is brilliant and it feels like I've come home."

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