It is no secret that Seaton and District Music Club (SEATON MUSIC) is experiencing extreme difficulties and uncertainty due to the closure of The Gateway Theatre. Seaton Music owns its own Steinway Grand piano which together with its predecessors has been kept in The Gateway/Town Hall. The closure has forced its removal to secure storage. The Trustees have been working to salvage the 2024/2025 concert season. Despite the short notice, the December concert was successfully relocated to Seaton URC Church with excellent attendance. The remaining concerts of the current season are being postponed pending the reopening. Extra concerts are being arranged for February and April to be held in alternative venues, the first of which is currently being advertised, and the May concert, including the Annual General Meeting, will be held in St Andrew’s Church, Colyton which has a suitable piano. Assuming that The Gateway Theatre reopens by June, the remaining three concerts of the current season will take place there during July and September (the third has still to be arranged) with the 2025/2026 season starting in October as planned. We have to commit ourselves at least two years in advance to secure first/world class musicians.
The Trustees are having to consider the long term future of Seaton Music and, if we are forced to find a new permanent home, it must be able to accommodate our piano as it is prohibitively expensive to keep it in store and transport it to and from each concert as required. It is our hope that the Gateway will be enabled to reopen and that the long association, nearly 75 years, that Seaton Music has had with the building can continue into the future.