Local artists and musicians to benefit from the opening of a new creative hub in Leicester City Centre

Former Creative Leicestershire Bursary Winners, LCMP will be opening a new creative space in the City centre:

Local artists and musicians are set to benefit from a new creative space opening in the city centre, combining art exhibitions, recording facilities, business support services and much more.

The creative hub, known as “HQ”, is located at 38 Charles Street in Leicester City Centre, having taken over the premises formerly occupied by 5HQ (former home of the Formation Record label). The venue contains high quality recording studio facilities, workshop areas, gallery and exhibition space, art supplies, event tickets and much more.

HQ is being run and managed by LCMP (Leicester Community Music Project), a social enterprise who work with local artists and musicians to nurture and develop their talents. The group received a grant of £5,000 through “CaSE-da”, the local Co-operative Development Agency, towards the cost of renovating the building.

HQ will enable LCMP to continue Leicester’s proud history of supporting the local music scene through providing a place for musicians to record their music and provide the opportunity to work closely with mentors to develop their skills and confidence. Later in the year there will also be the opportunity to take part in apprenticeship schemes to gain formal qualifications and work experience opportunities.

The grand opening of HQ will take place on Friday 6th July from 3pm until 8pm and is open to anyone to attend. The event will feature guided tours of the recording studio facilities with performers and producers showcasing their recent projects. As the building is famed for being an integral part of the early rave scene, an art exhibition entitled “Rave Culture”, featuring works from local artists will also be on display in the gallery space.

Yasin El Ashrafi, Chairman of LCMP, said: “We are delighted to be formally opening HQ – the building has a long-standing reputation for being a meeting point for local urban musicians, we hope to uphold and build on this. A lot of hard work has gone into transforming the building which will enable us to continue our work with emerging local talent.”

An afterparty, in conjunction with FORTRAN Records, will be taking place at The Music Café just off Braunstone Gate from 10pm – 4am.

For more information please contact Yasin on 07835243805/0116 3196063 or email lcmpcic@hotmail.com