Leeds Conservatoire

Music conservatoire in Leeds, England

Leeds Conservatoire became a wholly owned subsidiary of Leeds City College in August 2011, and is now a member of the Luminate Education Group. In 2018, the conservatoire regained its status as a Higher Education Institution. Leeds Conservatoire is also a member of Conservatoires UK and partner of the European Association of Conservatoires.

Undergraduate courses at Leeds Conservatoire are known as pathways; genres and styles of music that students choose to major in. Courses include Business, Classical, Film Music, Folk, Jazz, Popular, Production, Songwriting, Musical Theatre, Acting and Actor Musician. Students may also choose to combine two pathways. The conservatoire also offers a one year Foundation Degree certificate providing students with an extra year before commencing their undergraduate study. Completion of any three year undergraduate pathway will result in students being awarded a Bachelor of Arts. Leeds Conservatoire was the first music institution in Europe to offer a bachelor's degree in the study of Jazz music, and the first conservatoire in the UK to offer a degree in Popular music. Until September 2018 the conservatoire also ran Further education courses, including BTEC Music and Music Technology. All FE courses were moved to the Creative Arts Faculty of Leeds City College. The conservatoire also runs a one year postgraduate programme in which students can study for a Master of Music or postgraduate diploma. Since September 2013, all undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses are validated by the University of Hull. In addition to degree courses, Leeds Conservatoire is also host to a series of short courses available to children and adults. This also includes Leeds Junior Conservatoire, previously known as the Saturday Music School, which runs courses available to children from ages 9–18. On Sundays, the conservatoire is also a host for Yorkshire Young Musicians.

Leeds Conservatoire was established in 1965 as the Leeds Music Centre, delivering extra curricular music classes at the Leeds Institute building near Millennium Square, which now houses Leeds City Museum. In 1993, the conservatoire launched the first Jazz degree in Europe. In 1997, the conservatoire was moved to purpose built premises on Quarry Hill, neighbouring with the Leeds Playhouse, Northern Ballet and the BBC Yorkshire building. In the following year, Leeds Conservatoire instead received approval from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to merge with Leeds City College. On 1 August 2011, the conservatoire became a wholly owned subsidiary within the Leeds City College Group. Funding from the government and additional private donations saw the conservatoire receiving 54 Steinway pianos in September 2011, resulting in the conservatoire becoming the only All Steinway school in England at the time. The festival received a grant from Arts Council England for the 2018 season. In 2017, the conservatoire revamped its performance space The Venue with a rooftop extension. In September 2017, Leeds Conservatoire unveiled the Leeds Music Library, a new location for their previously internal library space. Following the library's relocation, the conservatoire invested £0.5 million to refurbish the fifth floor of the main building with new practice rooms and study space. In June 2018, the conservatoire regained its Higher Education Institution status. In 2019, the conservatoire partnered with Opera North. From 3 August 2020, Leeds College of Music adopted Leeds Conservatoire as its new name, following the launch of new degree courses in Musical Theatre, Acting and Actor Musician.

The conservatoire has exported a variety of notable alumni in different musical disciplines. This includes Jazz pianists David Newton, Nikki Iles, saxophonists Pete Wareham and Alan Barnes, trumpeters Chris Batchelor and Richard Iles, horn player Alastair Hanson and guitarists Nick Webb and Giuliano Modarelli. Badly Drawn Boy, Snake Davis, John Thirkell, Adrian Snell, Matthew Bourne, James Lynch of Touch and Go, Michael Spearman of Everything Everything, Geoff Downes of Yes and Asia, Chris Sharkey of Trio VD and Acoustic Ladyland, Ryan and Gary Jarman of The Cribs, James Yeoburn Mark Holub and Brett Domino are also associated with the conservatoire. Dave Bainbridge, guitarist with Iona and later keyboards player for Strawbs, also studied there and won the BBC Radio 2 Best Jazz soloist award whilst at the conservatoire. Motorhead drummer Phil Taylor studied drumming at Leeds. Musical instrument manufacturer and industry consultant alumni Alastair Hanson is the only British manufacturer of saxophones in almost a century and was presented with a special award on making the Worlds first FSC sustainably manufactured wind instruments acknowledged by HRH King Charles. Singer John Newman received a BTEC in Popular Music from the conservatoire in 2010. We Are Domi, the group who represented the Czech Republic at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, met and formed at the conservatoire.

Pianist Dame Fanny Waterman is former head of the Advanced Performance Course. Jazz musicians Neil Yates, Nikki Iles, Mornington Lockett, Dave O'Higgins, Omar Puente, Louise Gibbs, Peter Churchill, and Tony Faulkner have previously taught at the conservatoire, as has the saxophone specialist, Richard Ingham. Former John Dankworth trumpet soloist was head of Jazz Studies until his retirement in 1992. The Folk faculty includes many notable names including Jim Moray, Nancy Kerr, Bryony Griffith and Pete Flood of Bellowhead. Leeds Conservatoire also hosts masterclasses with visiting tutors, which in the past has included singer Barb Jungr, composers Sally Beamish and Gavin Bryars, baritone Sir Thomas Allen, soprano Deborah York, jazz trumpeter/composer/arranger Thad Jones, jazz saxophonist Andy Schofield and jazz guitarist Gilad Hekselman.