A New Partnership

Picture: Emile Holba

City Music Foundation announces a New Partnership with Barts Heritage

Barts Heritage is an organisation formed in 2019 for the preservation, restoration and maintenance of the unique and historic buildings at Barts Hospital. Its new CEO Will Palin started in November 2019 and is in overall charge of the project to repair and conserve the Great Hall, and the rest of the North Wing, in time for the 900th anniversary of the hospital’s foundation in 2023. Will was previously Director of Conservation at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, for five years where he was in charge of the award-winning £8.5m project to conserve The Painted Hall.

St. Bartholomew’s Hospital has led the provision of healthcare in London for almost 900 years. Founded in 1123 by the monk Rahere to give free medical care to the poor of the City of London, there is no other hospital in the country which can begin to match its record of continuous service on the same site.

Through this new collaboration CMF will bring exceptional, wide ranging music to the historic heart of St Bartholomew’s Hospital with regular, free performances in the Great Hall throughout 2021. This programme aims to draw lovers of music and architecture, of history and medicine, and all those seeking the companionship and solace of shared musical experience to one of the most important and ancient institutions in the City of London.

Dr Clare Taylor, managing director of City Music Foundation says:

“It’s hard to put into words exactly how much this collaboration means to me and to CMF. I trained as a doctor at Barts in the 1980s, living in Charterhouse Square, and I did my medical house job in Annie Zunz and Dalziel wards in the KGV wing. Always a dedicated musician in my spare time, I continued to sing, including in the choir at Barts the Great, for many years. In 2012 I ceased medical work to support my husband in his City role, and soon after began a second career running CMF. The role of music in health and well-being is well established.  This is a unique opportunity to bring CMF musicians to experience this and share their music with the Barts community as it approaches its 900 year anniversary, and to support Barts Heritage as they preserve and promote these magnificent buildings.”

Will Palin, CEO of Barts Heritage says:

“We are thrilled to be working with the City Music Foundation to bring the very best of live music to the heart of this beautiful site. We look forward to hosting monthly free concerts in the Great Hall throughout 2021 and to working with the Foundation on pioneering projects exploring the ways in which music can foster wellbeing for staff, patients and other visitors to the Hospital – ahead of our major restoration project.”

 To find out more about Barts Heritage click here