Grosvenor Road Studios (GRS), home of B:Music’s Associate Artists Black Voices, was able to upgrade their community recording suite this year to mirror their professional studio space thanks to a grant of £10,900 from a local charitable foundation.

In addition to being a historic recording studio, GRS is a community hub and learning environment, offering music activities and skills training for young BME carers and young women, as well as mentorship and music therapy for young unemployed people and past offenders looking to turn their lives around – these are just a few of the many services GRS deliver to enrich the lives of those who most need it in the area.

With their community studio now on an equal footing with their commercial studio, GRS can deliver sessions and workshops with industry standard software and equipment; producing professional quality recordings and giving programme attendees the chance to build up-to date transferable skills in the music industry.

The grant was awarded to GRS by the Prime Foundation, a Worcester based charity who are funded by specialist health and care property development company, Prime. Funding was made available in Birmingham following Prime’s work delivering a new specialist hospital facility at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and a new multi-storey car park at City Hospital Birmingham.

Managing Director, Carol Pemberton (MBE), gave Prime employees a tour of GRS, showcasing the commercial studio, community garden and the newly upgraded community recording space; Studio 2, where GRS interns improvised a composition and operated the mixing desk while local musician, Alex Sumner, sang.

Carol is a founding member of Black Voices; the renowned a cappella quintet, who as a group acquired GRS in 2001. Since then it has become an anchor to the community, creating space to support locals not only in their musical ambitions but providing office/ events space for cultural, creative and socially responsive organisations.

As part of the B2022 Cultural Festival to celebrate the Commonwealth Games, GRS will host a “Doorstep Carnival”. This will be presented in the streets surrounding GRS and in the GRS Community Garden. Birchfield residents will enjoy a high-quality participatory performance that responds to the universally recognised celebration of Carnival as a unifying and positive stimulus to celebrate the Commonwealth Games coming to Birmingham.

To keep up to date with GRS, visit their website here. Read more about the range of projects funded by the Prime Foundation here