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

Swiss Cottage

Swiss Cottage is a district of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. Thedistrict is located north-west of Charing Cross. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and is the location of Swiss Cottage tube station.-Etymology:...

, London.

The building, previously the Eton Avenue Hall, was reconstructed in 1890. It was equipped with a large pipe organ, built in 1888 by the London firm of Henry Willis & Sons

Henry Willis & Sons

thumb|250px|St Bees Priory organ, the last major instrument to be personally supervised by "Father" Henry Willis, 1899Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845 in Liverpool. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other...

 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 Sharp

Cecil James Sharp was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early 20th century, and many of England's traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them.-Early life:Sharp was born in Camberwell, London, the eldest son of...

. Arnold Bax

Arnold Bax

Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...

 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

Dido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell to a libretto by Nahum Tate. The first known performance was at Josias Priest's girls' school in London no later than the summer of 1688. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid...

 in 1900 by Martin Shaw

Martin Shaw (composer)

Martin Edward Fallas Shaw OBE, FRCM, DMus was an English composer, conductor and theatre producer...

 and Gordon Craig

Edward Gordon Craig

Edward Henry Gordon Craig , sometimes known as Gordon Craig, was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director and scenic designer, as well as developing an influential body of theoretical writings...

.

The organ was removed and transferred to a church in Brighton in 1910. The conservatoire had closed by 1928 when the building was converted into the Embassy Theatre

Embassy Theatre (London)

The Embassy Theatre is a theatre at 64, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London.- Early years :The Embassy Theatre was opened as a repertory company in September 1928 on the initiative of Sybil Arundale and Herbert Jay., when the premises of Hampstead Conservatoire of Music were adapted by architect...

. The building is now part of the Central School of Speech and Drama

Central School of Speech and Drama

The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...