J'AIME March 2018

were fast-tracked through
their music GCSE and
A Level, before winning
places at Birmingham
Conservatoire to study
their BMus (hons), with a
focus on violin.
“While at the
Conservatoire we were
already dreaming of
starting a music school
because we wanted to
teach people and to help
others to provide high
quality music lessons,” says
David. “We also realised
that the musician lifestyle
- which is mostly travelling
around the country and
doing a lot of hard work in
a cutthroat industry which
is very stressful and doesn’t
earn you much money -
wasn’t for us.
“I’d always thought I was going to be a musician but
the reality was that we both much preferred teaching.”
So even before the brothers finished their degrees
they found a vacant unit at Mitchells Centre in Sutton
Coldfield, and their dream of opening a music school
became a reality.
“The last six month of my degree were the most
stressful because there was a major project which was a
concerto and conducting and a 10,000 write-up, at the
same time as opening the music school,” says David.
Partridge Brothers takes pupils aged from just two-anda-half
right through to pensioners and beyond. As well
as Stephen and David, who teach piano and violin, the
school has tutors in a wide variety of instruments from
piano and violin to guitar, ukulele, clarinet, saxophone
and more. Tutor Lauren Storey specialises in teaching
toddlers and children with additional needs.
“We feel that the difference between our music school
and a lot of others is that our tutors all have a degree
in the instrument they’re teaching and will teach to the
highest level, rather than having youngsters with little
or no teaching experience,” explains David.
With lessons at Mitchells already full, the brothers
were thinking of expanding their business when the
opportunity at Heart of the Country arose.
“We fell upon this unit quite by accident when it
popped up as available on Facebook,” says Stephen.
“We’re full at Mitchells so we needed more space and
were looking to expand the business, but equally it
allows us to do more things here. We’re going to have
workshops, film screenings, concerts, theory classes -
it’s a much bigger space.”
The new music school has six rooms for one-to-one
lessons as well as a dedicated concert space with
seating for 50 people where the school will hold
regular events. The first concert, which takes place on
Saturday, March 15, is A Night at the Musicals - an
evening of musical favourites performed by up and
coming singers. The programme will include music
THE BROTHERS’ MUSIC SCHOOL AT
MITCHELLS CENTRE, SUTTON COLDFIELD
47