Facilities

UEA Music Centre was designed by Arup Associates and built with the help of a grant from the Nuffield Foundation. It originally opened in 1973 and is located near the centre of the University, the main library, lecture theatres, drama studio and catering facilities.

The Dick van der Ven Practice rooms

UEA Music Centre contains eight practice rooms, all with pianos and mirrors, which are available for UEA students and staff to use for individual and small ensemble practice, throughout the day and evening (8.00am - 10.00pm). Use is on a first-come-first-serve basis for one hour. There's no need to book beforehand - just come and play! 

Access to the practice rooms

If you are a current UEA student or member of staff, you are eligible to apply for access to the practice rooms (unfortunately, we cannot extend this scheme to those external to the University). A charge is applicable, which covers the entire academic year.

The practice room fees for the 2018-19 academic year (24 September 2018 - 22 September 2019) are:

UEA Staff (General): £23 per year

UEA Student (General): £13 per year 

UEA Staff (& UEA Choir, Chamber Choir or Symphony Orchestra member): £11.50 per year 

UEA Student (& UEA Choir, Chamber Choir, Symphony Orchestra, Music Society, Live Music Society or Showchoir member): £6.50 per year

To apply for access to the practice rooms, please fill out an online application form and make a payment via the online store. If you unable to pay your fees online, please complete a practice room application form (pdf), and return it, along with your fees (cash or cheque) to Alex Carlson (Music Centre Administrator), UEA Music Centre Reception (0.13), University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ.

Once we have received your payment and validated your student/staff status, you will receive an email confirming that you can start using the facilities. Please note that it may take up to 7 days for your campus card to be activated.

Please note that all users must abide by the practice room terms and conditions of use.

Concert room

The centre has an 80-capacity multi-purpose concert room, equipped with a Steinway grand piano which is available for ensemble rehearsals and concerts, during the evening and weekend.

Because of the configuration of space we cannot currently accommodate amplified music making.

Open-air Amphitheatre

There is a small open-air amphitheatre, outside the main entrance to the centre, which can be used for music and theatre events.

Music scores, books and CDs

UEA Library contains a large collection of music scores and music books, which are available for UEA staff and students to borrow. These include collected editions of all works by major composers (e.g. Bach, Mozart), miniature scores, sheet music, chamber music parts, Duke Ellington performance sets, jazz books from the National Distributed Jazz Archive, and books on performance, composers, instrumental technique and sound recording technology.

UEA Library also contains a diverse collection of CDs, including pop and rock, jazz, film music, world music and classical, which are available for UEA staff and students to borrow for free.

UEA Library provides access to Oxford Music Online. This includes the Grove dictionary of music and musicians.

For further information, please see the Music section of the UEA Library website.

Musical instruments

The centre has a double bass, which is available to hire by students in Music Centre ensembles. If you would like to hire the double bass, please email musicevents@uea.ac.uk.

A number of local music shops in the area, such as Top Joint Music Ltd., have woodwind and brass instruments available to hire. If you would like to hire a woodwind or brass instrument from one of these music shops, please contact them directly to discuss costs and hire periods.

Media Suite

The Media Suite has the potential to support digital research activites in the Faculty of Arts and Humanitites.

The State of the Art digitisation suite includes recording studios, radio drama studio, a digitisation lab and nine edit suites. To find out more about this facility please go to the Media Suite website.

Please note the Media Suite is only avaliable to Arts and Humanities students.