Claire Hickman, head of Chetham's commented; "This is a very exciting time for Chetham's, not only are we celebrating our 40th anniversary as a leading specialist music School, we are welcoming a new era and the works signal the beginning of this.
"The investment in the buildings will not only provide the best facilities for our students and staff to grow and learn, but they will also provide our partners and community groups with greater opportunities to work with us."
Once the new school building is complete, the latter phases of the Chetham's master-plan will begin. This will include refurbishment and conversion works to the existing Millgate and Nicholls buildings; these buildings which currently house the existing classrooms will be transformed into suitable accommodation for the students. When work is complete, extensive landscaping to the medieval site will be carried out, with the opening of a Medieval Manchester visitor centre.
Claire Hickman added; "Chetham's offers a dynamic world class programme and we pride ourselves on the accessibility of the School. Our vision is to expand into new areas in which we're keen to develop, not just for the School but for the wider community.
90% of our students receive up to full funding from the government's Music and Dance scheme, and our dynamic new school building will have strong visual impacts, which we hope will convey that we are accessible to all students with musical potential."
