The Mick Jagger Centre is a performing arts venue in Dartford,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England, UK, within the grounds of Dartford Grammar School. It is named after the Rolling Stones singer

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

, who was a pupil at the school. It has two main stages and holds theatre workshops in the summer.

Facilities

There are two main performance spaces, a recording studio, rehearsal rooms, a bar and gallery. The Small Room has a capacity of 150 seated; the Big Room can seat 350 or hold 600 standing.

History

The centre cost £2.25m, and was funded by a National Lottery grant of £1.7m with a further contribution from Jagger himself. Construction on the arena started in 1998 and it was opened in March 2000 by the

Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edwar ...

and Jagger. At its opening, Jagger was persuaded by a student to sign the wall of one of the new music classrooms with "I was back", which is still displayed today.

Associated organisations

Since it opened, The Mick Jagger Centre has been home to the Dartford Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1946, and is now the venue for all of the orchestra's four concerts throughout the year. The Mick Jagger Centre is also the home of the Orchestra of the Thames Gateway, a professional orchestra which commissions new works from local composers from the

Thames Gateway Thames Gateway is a term applied to an area around the Thames Estuary in the context of discourse around regeneration and further urbanisation. The term was first coined by the UK government and applies to an area of land stretching east from ...

region. A concerto for

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

by composer Adrian Smith was premiered in late 2009, followed by a

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

composed by Sarah Freestone. The Thames Gateway Quartet, a professional string quartet which plays and records musical works by students, is also based at the centre. The Dartford Music School, which is attached to the centre, organises an annual music competition called the Dartford Young Musician of the Year, open to all young musicians living or attending school in the Borough of Dartford.

References

External links

Official WebsiteInformation about the CentreDartford Symphony Orchestra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mick Jagger Centre, The Dartford Music venues in Kent Theatres in Kent Mick Jagger