Our Screen Editor has summat to say about the city's new venue...
It’s no secret that Nottingham is home to an already large and growing creative community. Be it film, music, writing, theatre or spoken word, the city has developed a reputation as a central hub for creatives looking to collaborate and showcase their work. While there are a few networking evenings, it’s sometimes hard to shake the feeling that the city’s creative community is still somewhat fragmented as it lacks a single location in which creatives from all disciplines can meet and experience what the city has to offer.
That’s why last month it was exciting to see the eagerly anticipated opening of Metronome, a brand new 350-capacity venue for music, moving image, video games, live performance and spoken word in Nottingham. Located in the heart of the Creative Quarter, the new venue was established in conjunction with Confetti and Nottingham Trent University with the aim of creating a central hub for showcasing creative talent within the city.
Among the first events to be hosted at the venue is an Industry Weekender Boot Camp, a free two-day course open to anyone who is over 21, not in full-time education and interested in pursuing a career in television. Guests include Richard Graham, editor of the Netflix drama The Innocents, Peaky Blinders sound recordist Grant Bridgeman, grip Rupert Lloyd Parry, whose previous work includes Electric Dreams, and This Is England production designer Jane Levick.
As well as educational programmes, Metronome is also home to exhibition and gallery areas, social spaces for creatives to meet and network, five world-class recording studios and fourteen rehearsal spaces. With a brief to deliver “an ambitious, diverse and contemporary cross-media programme,” some of their first live music events included a performance from guitarist David Buckingham and a sold-out concert from sixteen-piece ensemble The Invisible Orchestra.
In January, Metronome will welcome Manu Delago for a screening of his film Parasol Peak, which will include a live musical performance from the Austrian-born composer. Delago, a pioneer of the handpan, was first discovered by Björk, who invited him to play alongside the singer on her Biophilia tour. Quickly becoming a mainstay in her live lineup, Delago went on to tour with The Cinematic Orchestra and Olafur Arnalds. In Parasol Peak, directors Johannes Aitzetmüller and Jeb Hardwick follow Delago as he leads an ensemble of seven musicians on a mountaineering expedition in the Alps. Along the way, the group perform an array of new compositions in several stunning locations.
With an already exciting and vibrant line-up of events, and more being added regularly, the opening of the Metronome has the potential to launch a productive period in Nottingham’s creative history. We’ve already got a city full of creative potential, and now we have a state-of-the-art location to both showcase our own work, as well as expose ourselves to diverse talent from around the world; I’m genuinely excited to see what impact it has.
Metronome, Beck Street, NG1 1DY
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