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

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, on the border of the

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

. 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 aut ...

, 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 opposin ...

, 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 The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along with it ...

Christ the King Sixth Form College Christ the King Sixth Forms are sixth form colleges based over three sites in South London, England. The college was first founded in 1992 by the Catholic Church on a site in Lewisham owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, Archdio ...

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 England, English architect and Surveyor (surveying), surveyor; he was also known as a prolific writer of Christian Church, church hymns. He was born in Wapping, Middlesex, England. Hi ...

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 Harry Farjeon (6 May 1878 – 29 December 1948) was a British composer and an influential teacher of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music for more than 45 years. Early life and studies Harry Farjeon was born in Hohokus Township, ...

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 also ...

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 George Newson (born 27 July 1932) is an English composer and pianist who made some important contributions to British electronic and avant garde music during the 1960s and 1970s and has subsequently composed large and small-scale works in many mus ...

* John Platt * Violet Sanders * Norman Sillman * John Skeaping * Sidney Torch * Harold TruscottRichard Stoker, ‘Truscott, Harold (1914–1992)’, in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004) * Fatimah Tuggar * Gary Oldman * Jools Holland * Kate Bush * Daniel Day-Lewis * Eska (singer), 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