The Hampstead Conservatoire was a private college for music and the arts at 64, Eton Avenue,

Swiss Cottage Swiss Cottage is an area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, England. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and includes Swiss Cottage tube station. Swiss Cottage lies north-northwest of Charing Cross. Th ...

, London.remotegoat website
The building, previously the Eton Avenue Hall, was reconstructed in 1890.The Theatres Trust
/ref> It was equipped with a large pipe organ, built ca. 1887-8 by the London firm of

Henry Willis & Sons Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries. Five generations of the Willis family served as principals of th ...

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 Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English-born collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was the pre-eminent activist in the development of t ...

Arnold Bax Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral musi ...

was one of its pupils between 1898 and 1900. It was also notable for an early and celebrated production of

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was com ...

in 1900 by

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series '' The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the title roles in '' ...

and Gordon Craig. The organ was removed and transferred to St Peter's Parish Church, Brighton in 1910. 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 The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

British History Online: Hampstead Social and Cultural Activities
/ref>

References

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