Gloucestershire Academy of Music (GAM) wants to mark its 40th anniversary by buying its arts centre base at Barbican House, near Gloucester Docks.

It has just launched a £500,000 appeal - Be Part of Our Future - to buy the £350,000 former probation offices to secure its future as its lease with the city council runs out later this year.

More than 150 young musicians from all over the county filled Tewkesbury Abbey this week to celebrate the anniversary with a concert and announce a crowdfunding appeal for £25,000, to be match-funded by the Architectural Heritage Fund.

The performance, before a capacity audience of local dignitaries, Trust representatives and families, featured a world premiere of The Comet Stone by modern composer Jeff Moore. It was the culmination of a two-day, half-term workshop led by artistic director Glyn Oxley.

It's a make-or-break year for the academy, founded 40 years ago at the Forest of Dean home of musician Caroline Lumsden. From the late 90s it spent a decade moving venues until 2014, when the city council leased the empty building to GAM at a peppercorn rent.

Since then, it has developed into a multi-arts centre also housing The Flowers Band, Gloucestershire Boys' Choir, Gamelan workshops with schools, ballet, African drumming and Indian performing arts.

GAM has inspired generations of young players, including such famous alumni as members of the Carducci String Quartet, oboist Nicholas Daniel and String Fever, who will be performing at a series of concerts during the anniversary year.

The fundraising drive has reached the half-way mark with the help of Trust funding and a legacy.

Glyn Oxley said: "We have a 'can-do, will-do' approach at GAM - it's one of our greatest strengths. Musicians create the soundtrack to our lives through live performance, recorded music and the media. Without music education, the next generations of musicians won't be there to enrich our daily lives. For many people, it is a creative outlet and an effective way of expressing themselves."

For more information on GAM and the fund-raising appeal, go to glosacadmusic.org 

Punchline editor Mark Owen said: "We need to support this because regeneration is not just about buildings, it's about people and about culture and this is a fantastic opportunity to support that and help young people get into music and develop their sel-esteem and self-confidence."