The Conservatoire (formally The Blackheath Conservatoire of Music and the Arts) is an educational charity in Blackheath, on the border of the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

boroughs of

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

and

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

. The Conservatoire of Music and the Arts took on its current structure in 1991 with the merger of the Blackheath Conservatoire of Music and the Blackheath School of Art, which until that point had operated separately on the adjoining sites, but under the same board. The Conservatoire is so called as it was a generic term for a

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

at the time of its establishment, but it is not one in the present sense of a higher education establishment dedicated to music, and does not award its own qualifications. It does, however, offer

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

and

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

, along with graded music exams. The Conservatoire offers classes in art, music and drama for adults and children.

History

Blackheath Conservatoire of Music (1881–1991)

The Conservatoire of Music was founded by a local group led by William Webster (son of wealthy building contractor William Webster) in 1881, and operated out of temporary premises on nearby Bennett Park until the completion of its building in 1896. Unlike the School of Art, it has taught continuously since its founding.

Blackheath School of Art (1896–1991)

The School of Art was taken over by the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and remained in government hands as office accommodation. In 1985, it was reopened as an art school, but proved financially unsustainable and was absorbed into the Conservatoire of Music.

Post-merger: The Conservatoire (1991–present)

The combined organisation expanded beyond music and art to include drama and cultural courses. It also expanded beyond the site to engage in partnerships with other bodies, such as the

University of Greenwich , mottoeng = "To learn, to do, to achieve" , former_name = Woolwich Polytechnic(1890–1970)Thames Polytechnic(1970–1992) , established = , type = Public university , budget = £214.9 million (2020) , administrative_staff = , chancel ...

, Christ the King Sixth Form College and

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust is a National Health Service trust named after the ancient Oxleas Woods between Bexley and Greenwich. Current status Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS Foundation Trust providing community health, mental health ...

Closure threat

In January 2013 the Conservatoire was threatened with closure because of funding difficulties.Mark Chandler (17 January 2013
"Blackheath Conservatoire needs £75,000 to avoid closure"
''News Shopper'' (Greenwich). Retrieved 2014-01-14.

Buildings

Geograph-1210770 Blackheath Conservatoire

Both the Conservatoire of Music building and School of Art building were completed in 1896.
/ref> The architects were

James Edmeston James Edmeston (10 September 1791 – 7 January 1867) was an English architect and surveyor; he was also known as a prolific writer of church hymns. He was born in Wapping, Middlesex, England. His maternal grandfather was the Reverend Samuel B ...

and Edward Gabriel. Both buildings are now

Grade II-listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Adjoining these buildings is Blackheath Halls. It is believed to be the oldest purpose built multi-arts building in London and one of the few to have a fully operational Victorian

life drawing A figure drawing is a drawing of the human form in any of its various shapes and postures using any of the drawing media. The term can also refer to the act of producing such a drawing. The degree of representation may range from highly detailed, ...

studio.

Notable students and teachers

* Douglas Percy Bliss *

York Bowen Edwin York Bowen (22 February 1884 – 23 November 1961) was an English composer and pianist. Bowen's musical career spanned more than fifty years during which time he wrote over 160 works. As well as being a pianist and composer, Bowen was a ...

* Cecil Ross Burnett * George Bertram Carter * Stephen Coombs * Nora Cundell * Harry Farjeon *

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

James Laver James Laver, CBE, FRSA (14 March 1899 – 3 June 1975) was an English author, critic, art historian, and museum curator who acted as Keeper of Prints, Drawings and Paintings for the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1938 and 1959. He was al ...

Decima Moore Lilian Decima, Lady Moore-Guggisberg, CBE (11 December 1871 – 18 February 1964), better known by her stage name Decima Moore, was an English singer and actress, known for her performances in soprano roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Compa ...

Heddle Nash William Heddle Nash (14 June 189414 August 1961) was an English lyric tenor who appeared in opera and oratorio. He made numerous recordings that are still available on CD reissues. Nash's voice was of the light tenor class known as "tenore di g ...

* George Newson * John Platt * Violet Sanders *

Norman Sillman Norman Henry Sillman, ARCA, FRBS (4 May 1921 – 18 July 2013) was a British sculptor and a coin designer, including the one pound coins for the Royal Mint.John Skeaping John Rattenbury Skeaping, RA (9 June 1901 – 5 March 1980) was an English sculptor and equine painter and sculptor. He designed animal figures for Wedgwood, and his life-size statue of Secretariat is exhibited at the National Museum of R ...

Sidney Torch Sidney Torch MBE (born Sidney Torchinsky; 5 June 1908 – 16 July 1990) was a British pianist, cinema organist, conductor, orchestral arranger and a composer of light music. Early life Torch was born of Russian Jewish origin to a Ukrain ...

Harold Truscott Harold Truscott (23 August 1914 – 7 October 1992) was a British composer, pianist, broadcaster and writer on music. Largely neglected as a composer in his lifetime, he made an important contribution to the British piano repertoire and was influ ...

Richard Stoker, ‘Truscott, Harold (1914–1992)’, in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004) *

Fatimah Tuggar Fatimah Tuggar (born 15 August 1967) is a interdisciplinary artist born in Nigeria and based in the United States. Tuggar uses collage and digital technology to create works that investigates dominant and linear narratives of gender, race, and tec ...

Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy ...

* Jools Holland *

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

Daniel Day-Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English retired actor. Often described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over four decades, incl ...

* Eska MtungwaziBrown, Helen
"Eska: the finest female vocalist in the UK"
''The Telegraph'', 15 April 2015. * Dorothy M. Wheeler

References

External links

The Conservatoire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conservatoire Educational institutions established in 1881 Educational charities based in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich 1881 establishments in the United Kingdom Blackheath, London