Latest News in the farm yard
Whilst we develop plans for Bury Farm, we are evolving courses to run elsewhere in Cambridge until the new buildings are ready. These and the latest progress on site are explored below.
Whilst we develop plans for Bury Farm, we are evolving courses to run elsewhere in Cambridge until the new buildings are ready. These and the latest progress on site are explored below.
Open Evening
As you are aware the ACE Foundation is planning on converting the derelict buildings of Bury Farm into a study centre for art, music & culture. If you are interested in learning more about the progress that has already been made and our plans for the future, we invite you to join us on Friday, April 20 at Bury Farm, between 6 and 7.30pm. We will be giving tours of the site at 6.15 and 6.45pm.We hope you will be able to join us
We have moved!
We are in! We are in and settled at Bury Farm, after a few teething problems we are all happily installed and set up. The Cambridge Woodwind Makers have already had 3 recorder courses one for children to make a kit recorder in a day, and two week long courses with Tim Cranmore. Cultural Tours have also settled into the new site and can be contacted on 01223 841055. All this beautiful weather is making it even more of a joy to be here, we can appreciate the wildlife from our desks or sitting in the meadow for lunch, delicious. Our new office number is 01223 845599 and our address is The Granary, Bury Farm, Bury Road, Stapleford, Cambridge CB22 5BP. We look forward to welcoming some of you here in the future!
Moving.
Wow what a busy month! We have completed our annual Clarinet and Saxophone day with James Rae and our first watercolour course with Lesley Fotherby. The office is buzzing with plans to move to Bury Farm. Finishing touches are being made to the office sections with carpets in and desks being assembled. At the Babraham end shelves have been emptied and boxes packed.
Phase 2
Excitement mounts in the office as we await our planning permission for the second phase of the Bury Farm project. The aim is to create and inspiring space, at Bury Farm suited to all types of education, somewhere everyone can feel at home, a space where creative minds with a thirst for active learning will unite. The plan includes two performance/exhibition areas as well as smaller classrooms, workshops and community spaces. In the future we look forward to welcoming you there to enjoy a wide range of activities, but in the meantime we hope you enjoy our current course programme which utilises other wonderful local venues.
Cambridge Woodwind Makers
Space has been found in the Stable block to host the workshop of musical instrument maker Daniel Bangham, who lives locally but has an international reputation for his authentic Classical clarinets. Daniel is currently setting up a new educational charity, the Cambridge Woodwind Makers, to train future generations in the art and craft of instrument making. The workshops are up and running with the first ‘Natural Trumpet’ making course in May and a recorder making class for children in March. More information can be found on the Cambridge Woodwind Makers. website
Happy New Year. 2012
There has been great progress on the Bury Farm site over the past year. The first phase which will provide a home and office accommodation for the Foundation and our subsidiary business, which helps support the charity, is almost completed and we look forward to moving in at the beginning of March. The trustees came to visit in January and were pleased to see the progress that had been made. Pictures of the progress can be seen on our facebook and flickr pages.
A busy year.
Following the success of 2011s events we launched our first ever annual brochure for 2012, featuring an expanded range of music, art and literature courses. We welcome back some familiar faces and introduce a number of exciting new courses and virtuoso artists to share with you. For your copy please email ace@acefoundation.org.uk. For a full list of courses please see the course pages of the website, or for past events please see our archive pages.
ACE and Music
Expansion of our musical activities extends in all directions. We have welcomed Trevor Barlow, former head of woodwind for Cambridgeshire Music, to excite our musical passion and lead our involvement with local music initiatives such as the Holiday Orchestra and the National Youth Jazz Collective. For 2010 we have completed two of our three courses and are looking forward to the third. We are currently planning a rather busier program for 2011.
We are keeping up to date with musical projects further afield too. We recently received a much appreciated thank you from the St Magnus Music Festival, which we have supported over a number of years, and we are very excited about the developments of the newly established charity; The Musical Brain.
Naturally we are still keeping a close eye on ACE Cultural Tours' excellent range of music festival tours, hoping that we might get to go on one or more of the tours ourselves!
Courses
Our Clarinet & Sax Day with James Rae was a great success, thank you everyone in attendance. There was a fantastic turn out and it ran very smoothly, considering the 100+ players involved! We followed this up with an equally excellent Jazz Day where we had the privilege to work with sax great Alan Barnes and jazz vocalist Brigitte Beraha. We are now taking bookings for a Brass Day with local group Prime Brass, which will be held in November and a whole collection of courses are under discussion with a number of other prestigious music professionals. (See courses for more information)
Not only are we developing these playing days, but we are very proud to be supporting The Musical Brain 2010 conference, which will explore the science behind music and why we love it. More details can be found on the courses page: Robert Schumann.
More Arts
We are pleased to have welcomed an artist into our midst for six months for the second half of 2010. Candida Bradley has joined us from London to introduce us to the world of book art. She has been studying the medium for the last few years and will conclude her time here with an exhibition of her work and, hopefully, some contributions from locals. More details can be found on the arts courses pages.
Site Progress
Our vision for Bury Farm is to create a study centre for music and the arts where individuals of all ages and abilities can experience and enjoy active learning. We have devised a strategy incorporating a number of phases.
Phase one is to provide office space for the trust and for the wonderful team of staff who manage ACE Cultural Tours.
Phase two transforms various rooms into suitable venues for small-scale music workshops, this will include a small concert room as well as smaller break-out rooms.
Phase three will convert the longer line of old stables into useful spaces for a whole host of different activities which are still under deliberation.
For now phase 2 and 3 are just a dream and depend on the goodwill and generosity of the council planners, however, phase 1 is underway with planning permission already approved, so we will continue to shape our ideas and run some fun and interesting courses in the meanwhile!
Our first event
One of our founding moments over the summer of 2009 was the pre-launch launch of Bury Farm.
In reaction to a request from the local Parish Council we devised an event to introduce our intentions to the village of Stapleford. Beginning as we meant to go on, we held the event within the walls of our derelict building using local businesses to help us provide lighting, seating, food and drink. We invited the village to share their thoughts, hoping to learn from them as well as they from us. There was an impressive turnout which really gave life to the site and encouraged us in our endeavour. We were serenaded by the Stapleford Singers and the Cambridge Wind Players and had the support of the village council, whose Chairman kindly introduced the meeting. We are working through all the enthusiastic suggestions from those who attended the event and piecing together a strategy that will provide a new centre to enhance cultural life and educate in exciting ways.