Laban, the UK’s leading training facility for contemporary dance, is to merge with Trinity College of Music to form a dedicated conservatoire for music and dance – the first of its kind in the UK.
The announcement of the merger was made just days after Laban was named as the winner of the prestigious Stirling Prize for Architecture, and the combination of the new conservatoire and the acclaimed building is already being anticipated as having a positive impact on the regeneration efforts taking place in South East London. Both Laban and Trinity College of Music, situated only half a mile from each other, offer a range of performances and community-based activities to complement their undergraduate and graduate training programmes. The new institution will maintain a programme of research and professional development, and the merger will enable both parties to remain committed to their current courses and programmes but at the same time create opportunities for new collaborative ventures.
This is the first merger of its kind in the UK. It aims to assist both parties to deliver internationally recognised levels of student achievement. Support for the new union has come from a variety of sources. Gerry Robinson, Chairman of Arts Council England enthused: “The alliance of the two colleges brings about a remarkable synergy of arts, education, local authority and private resources in creating Britain’s first Conservatoire of Music and Dance.”
The new organisation will be headed by Gavin Henderson, Principal and Chief Executive Designate. Anthony Bowne will be Director Designate of Laban and Derek Aviss, Director Designate of Trinity. Derek Aviss commented, “Each institution’s commitment to working with the community will provide an even stronger focus, through merger, for the artistic development and support for the South East of London’s emergence as the capital’s new cultural quarter.”
Laban’s selection as the RIBA Stirling Architecture Prize winner is likely to give a valuable boost to South East London and regeneration projects that have been in progress for ten years. Its planning approval was in part inspired by the impact the Guggenheim Museum had on the regeneration of the urban centre of Bilbao. Part-funded by Arts Council England’s Lottery Programme, it was built at a total cost of £22m. It was selected from a shortlist of six buildings which included the Plymouth Theatre Royal Production Centre and the new Great Court at the British Museum. Designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the building incorporated the work of visual artist Michael Craig-Martin in a collaboration made possible with an Art for Architecture grant from the Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts (RSA). The grant supported the period of the artist’s early involvement in the process of design and development. The architects were also responsible for Tate Modern, which previously failed to be short-listed for the Stirling Prize. Laban was the favourite to win with bookmakers and critics, and its selection has proved popular among architects. It is also on the shortlist for the Better Public Building Award, made to publicly funded buildings. This shortlist of 14 buildings includes the Imperial War Museum North and the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall as well as the M1 Junction 15A improvement scheme. The winner will be announced on October 22.