Choose the correct letter, A, B or C. [br] The main purpose of the new Arts Cent

Good evening everyone, and welcome to the new Midlands Arts Centre. We are delighted that so many of you have managed to brave the rain and come out tonight to help us celebrate the opening of this new facility. I’m here to tell you a little bit about the complex itself and show you what is on offer here. But first, a little background. It was well over fifteen years ago now that the idea was born to create a centre of drama, music and art that would attract visitors from the local area and beyond. Our aim was to provide a place of entertainment for the whole family, which would also offer education and training opportunities to performers and artists from around the world, as well as the local community. With the help of local businesses, we aim to offer annual grants to up-and-coming artists who might otherwise be unable to fulfil their dreams.
As you will see when you look around, we already have an exhibition of two young local artists — you will find that in Exhibition room B. I must admit I’ve never been a big fan of abstract art but I was blown away by the exhibits on display by these talented youngsters. Exhibition room A houses our other temporary display. This one includes sculpture made from recycled objects and a collection of film posters from the 1970s and 80s, a must for any film buffs out there. The Rees Gallery houses our permanent exhibits, which include a collection of historical photographs of the local area and work by local artists Jemma Brock and Giles Priestman. There will be guided tours every 15 minutes throughout the evening.
For any budding young artists here this evening, we have a Drawing Workshop starting in five minutes with celebrated local cartoonist, Andy Mynott. Andy will be sharing some techniques for creating caricatures and showing some of his most famous works. You will find Andy at the back of the Rees Gallery and all under 16s are welcome. There are many other events taking place this evening but I haven’t got time to go through all of them — your programme will give you details. I’ve just picked out a few of the highlights. Later in the evening, there will be a performance from the Midlands Youth Band and Dale Park Youth Choir — this is the first time they have performed together and I can guarantee that it is not to be missed. They are performing tonight in the Gilbert Theatre at 7.00 pm but don’t worry if you miss that one, they will be on again at 8.45 pm, this time in the Studio. Be sure to get there in good time.
Another important event tonight is a talk by local writer, James Carver. He’ll be discussing his series of historical crime novels and reading from his latest book, The Secret Stone. He will also be signing copies of his books. I know he has a lot of fans out there so make sure you go along. The event starts in the Studio at 7.30 pm. Finally, the big event of the evening will be a performance by the award-winning Simon Bradford and his Jazz and Blues band. Simon has recently completed a sell-out tour of Europe and has just released a new album and we are delighted he has travelled all the way from his home in Canada for tonight’s performance. His show and album have received fantastic reviews and I really can’t wait for this. Be sure to be seated in the Moffat Hall in good time for the show. It starts at 9 pm and will be the final event of the evening.