The Mick Jagger Centre is currently celebrating its 25th Anniversary with a series of special performances and events covering all aspects of music dance & drama so a return visit from Mick Jagger today was ‘very special and the icing on the cake’ said headmaster Julian Metcalf.
The Mick Jagger Centre is a thriving arts venue located at Dartford Grammar School in Kent and has been a huge success since it opened in 2000. Equipped with recording and video studios as well as rehearsal rooms & gallery spaces for students it’s also a successful venue for local community activities, theatre & music concerts in addition to being the home of The Dartford Music School and The Dartford Symphony Orchestra.
Sir Mick funds a project at the centre which delivers weekly music tuition to over 1,280 local children. The project, called ‘Red Rooster’ has been going since 2003. It continues to benefit both the school students, local primary school children (through Dartford Music School and the Red Rooster project) and the local Dartford community.
Today during Mick’s impromptu visit the ‘Red Rooster’ students gave a short performance of their musical talents. Mick chatted to them alongside headmaster Julian Metcalf and the teaching staff who then gave him a guided tour round the centre that he opened in 2000.
Mick, always a keen sports fan, (he played basketball at the school in his early days) was delighted to present a trophy to the current Dartford Grammar Basketball Team.
Mick sees this venue as an essential facility for the arts as he continues to maintain a connection with his hometown of Dartford. It was in this town where his music career started as a teenager after forming a band with another local lad Keith Richards.
Michael Philip Jagger was born and raised in Dartford and his younger brother Chris also has a career in music. Chris Jaggers band are set to perform later today at the Mick Jagger Centre. Mick attended Dartford Grammar before going on to study at the London School of Economics.
He later formed The Rolling Stones who played their first gig at The Marquee London in July 1962.
Photos – Pete Bresser, Bresserphotos.com
