Left holding the baby

Sar Music Centre, the popular institute that once attracted hundreds of aspiring musicians from around the kingdom, has closed … devastating its co-creator who has been left holding the baby and trying to resurrect her musical career in Bahrain.

Students and parents were first alerted about the centre’s collapse through a posting on its page on the social networking site Facebook which revealed it had suffered ‘vast financial losses’ resulting from the ‘uncertain position of the situation in Bahrain’.

Instructors said that a quiet summer resulting from a small number of students signing up for special holiday courses had added to the institute’s woes. Many regular attendees travelled away during the school break and their absence was added to by member families relocating.

Presently, officials are trying to transfer enrolled students who have paid for lessons in advance to the Bahrain Music Institute (BMI) … and have placed various musical instruments and furniture up for sale. On hearing the news, some of its teachers have decided not to return from their summer break while others wanting to stay in Bahrain are trying to make alternative employment arrangements.

Founder-director Lydia Martin, formerly known as Lydia Auld, said she had lost almost all of the BD30,000 she had invested in the project two years ago along with her business partner Mubarak Najem, principal of BMI in Mahooz.

She said they were in talks and hoped to negotiate some form of compensation to help cover unpaid bills through a government fund set up to help small businesses that had suffered as a result of the unrest earlier this year.

Dejected but determined Lydia, who recently gave birth to baby Xavier, said it was a sad ending to an institute which once attracted more than 500 students each week.

Lydia said: “It is not really all of a sudden in a way because the situation in Bahrain has been going on since February.

“We particularly suffered in February and March because a lot of our students who didn’t live in Saar didn’t come for lessons – they were too scared to travel to this area. So, we couldn’t charge them and we lost almost a third of our yearly income.”

Violin and piano teacher David Hlawiczka, musical director and leader of the Bahrain Chamber Orchestra, said he and his colleagues were stunned by the closure decision. He said: “We were given just five days notice and we have not received our salaries for July and August. I have just signed a contract for a new house and bought numerous household items so it couldn’t have happened at a worst time.

“We will also not get flights back unless we leave in the next few days. I am not planning on leaving. We were in the middle of planning a concert for November.”

One disappointed parent was Denis Travers, a banjo and ukulele student at the centre along with his children Alexian and Elise, who were learning the guitar and piano respectively. They had been using the centre’s services for 18 months.

Mr Travers had paid BD288 for lessons in advance and is now waiting for a refund. He said: “Children need good teachers who can help them learn and appreciate music. The teachers here were very good and it was a great disappointment to learn this news. I hope there is a way out and they can find a new sponsor. To teach music they don’t need a grand building, just some sound-proofed rooms and air-conditioning.”

Despite a waiver of 50 per cent rent by the landlord, the financial situation of the centre, based at its current location in a grand villa off Saar Avenue, looked unlikely to improve in the short-term. Lydia said: “Sar Music Centre has very, very high expenses,” she explained. “They are too big to cope with and include the rent, electricity and salaries.

“The business plan of the centre was drawn up to function with a certain number of teachers as well as pupils. Unless they have an average-to-full timetable, we can’t break even or make a profit.

“In February, two of our staff left. So although the rest of our staff continued taking lessons after the situation in Bahrain calmed down, and were really busy, they didn’t realise that we were in such a bad situation. I was often carried along with their enthusiasm.”

On returning from maternity leave last month with her son, who was born on July 17 in the UK, Lydia found the financial situation had become so dire that even after business negotiations she was left with no option but to close the institute.

“We couldn’t bring in more new staff and at that time we were already three members of staff down,” she said. “We couldn’t carry on because it looked like we would go even more into the red. I do not have any more money to put into the business.”

Sar Music Centre was Lydia’s and her former partner Alistair Auld’s dream project. Lydia started it with Mr Auld’s support after their successful stints as music teachers at St Christopher’s School.

Mr Auld, the former head of music at the leading British curriculum school, was also the musical director of the Manama Singers, a multi-cultural group of enthusiasts from all walks of life who perform choral works and musicians from across the Gulf, and beyond, fly to Bahrain to play with the choir’s resident orchestra, the Bahrain Sinfonia.

For a short-lived time Lydia seized the conductor’s baton after Mr Auld’s sudden departure to Wales with the choir’s former chairman Edel Moroney, who was also the producer of Music and Stage for Kids (MASK), as reported earlier in GulfWeekly.

Mr Auld is now running a guest house and Lydia says they remain on friendly terms. Lydia said she will not continue singing with the choir, which as a couple she and Alistair were part of for more than eight years, but would be happy to conduct the group again if asked.

At the Sar Music Centre teachers offered both individual and group lessons in instrumental and vocal music. They also held group lessons in exploring instruments, pre-school classes, African drumming, ran three choirs, an orchestra and a percussion group.

Lydia is now aiming to continue offering singing lessons alongside African drumming classes, for mums and babies and pre-school music sessions. She is continuing as musical director of MASK and is conducting auditions for the production of Annie, a popular Broadway musical in early December to be performed at the Culture Hall.

She is also involved in a pre-school project in Riffa and may launch another MASK group in that area too. “Things are as tough as you make them. I was expecting a huge baby but I had this tiny two-kilo bundle. He had a tough start but I can see that he is already a fighter. He’s got my spirit. We will give it a go.

“I put my soul, heart, life savings … everything into Sar Music Centre. When you have something you can have it again. I think I am calm because I have my son now. Some things come and some things go.

“Alistair was devastated to hear the news. He loved the centre. We spent a lot of time together. He is really sad but always wanted to go back to the UK. He is got an amazing guest house in Wales. It is a gorgeous farmhouse by a lake.”

Admitting there were mistakes on the way, she added: “We learn from our mistakes. One of them was to start a business with really high expenses.

“I don’t feel my life is in disarray. The centre is a sad loss but I still have lots of students. I want to be my own person.”

The centre will be putting a range of musical instruments up for sale including pianos, electric pianos, cellos, violins and various items of furniture.

Students who undertook music exams this year are being advised to contact Lydia to collect their certificates. David, and his former Sar Music Centre colleagues Sachi Ktabatake, who teaches the Suzuki violin and piano, Emily Lyn, who teaches brass instruments, and Mick Raggatt, who teaches piano up to advanced level, have decided to stay on in the kingdom. All are offering private lessons to music lovers.

GulfWeekly has tried to make contact with BMI principal Mubarak Najem but he has not responded to our calls or email requests for an interview.