Hampstead Conservatoire Explained

The Hampstead Conservatoire was a private college for music and the arts at 64, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London.[1]

The building, previously the Eton Avenue Hall, was reconstructed in 1890.[2] It was equipped with a large pipe organ, built ca. 1887-8 by the London firm of Henry Willis & Sons[3] with forty-three stops spread over four manuals and pedals.

The hey-day of the conservatoire was 1896 - 1905, when its Principal was Cecil Sharp.[4] Arnold Bax was one of its pupils between 1898 and 1900.[5] It was also notable for an early and celebrated production of Dido and Aeneas in 1900 by Martin Shaw and Gordon Craig.[6]

The organ was removed and transferred to St Peter's Parish Church, Brighton in 1910.[7] The conservatoire had closed by 1928 when the building was converted into the Embassy Theatre. The building is now part of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama[8]

References

  1. http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/venue_view.php?uid=187 remotegoat website
  2. http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/theatres/show/2503-embassy-theatre The Theatres Trust
  3. Web site: The National Pipe Organ Register - the Hampstead Conservatoire of Music.
  4. Web site: Sharp, Cecil James . Heaney . Michael . 2004 . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
  5. Web site: Bax, Sir Arnold Edward Trevor . Foreman . Lewis . 2004 . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
  6. Book: Innes, Christopher . Edward Gordon Craig: a Vision of Theatre. Taylor & Francis . 1998.
  7. Web site: The National Pipe Organ Register - St Peter's, Brighton: The Willis Organ.
  8. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22645 British History Online: Hampstead Social and Cultural Activities

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