Leeds College of Music has announced that as of 3 August 2020, it will be renamed Leeds Conservatoire.
The name change reflects a new era for the Leeds institution, as it diversifies its offering beyond music, to include drama and performing arts.
Established in 1965 as Leeds Music Centre, the organisation has been delivering music education for over 50 years. It has held conservatoire status for many years, having been a founding member of the group Conservatoires UK.
Committed to providing accessible training, in 2019 it became the first conservatoire in the UK to remove audition fees for all of its courses, a move which was celebrated by the industry.
Vice Principal, Professor Joe Wilson, said, “We have long since outgrown our old name, which no longer represents who we are and what we deliver, so we’re thrilled to begin this new chapter with a name which signifies the quality of our training and pays homage to our diverse and creative city.
We are proud of being a progressive conservatoire, and we are committed to ensuring that our training is accessible. Being the first conservatoire in the UK to remove all audition fees is just the beginning of the steps we are taking to provide outstanding training that is inclusive for all. We’ll continue with the excellent work that we are already doing to focus on making a conservatoire education something that every aspiring musician and performer can pursue.”
Conservatoires are specialist higher education providers, which offer one-to-one tuition, delivered by industry practitioners, with a focus on bespoke facilities and a professional environment.
The new name follows the conservatoire’s successful launch of BA Musical Theatre in September 2019, which saw the conservatoire expand its facilities to include a purpose-built drama and dance suite in a brand new development at Playhouse Square.
September 2020 will see Leeds Conservatoire welcome new cohorts of trainees in BA Acting and BA Actor Musician, with MA Drama programmes to follow in 2021.
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