Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trinity Laban provides training in all aspects of classical music, jazz, popular music, composition, musical theatre, contemporary dance, dance science, choreography, and music education. The conservatoire has 1,250 undergraduate and postgraduate students based at three campuses in Greenwich, Deptford and New Cross.

Trinity Laban also runs a Centre for Advanced Training programme for young dancers aged 12 to 17 and a junior music department (Junior Trinity), designed for young musicians aged 3 to 19.

The conservatoire has formed academic partnerships with institutions including Beijing Dance Academy, KM Music Conservatory, and the University of Melbourne and industry partnerships include Trinity College London, Studio Wayne McGregor, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Trinity Laban is a Member of Conservatoires UK and the European Association of Conservatoires. The principal of Trinity Laban is Professor Anthony Bowne and A. R. Rahman was announced as the conservatoire's Honorary President in 2024.

Trinity college of music was founded in central London on 1 June 1872 by Henry George Bonavia Hunt, an ordained priest and musician whose qualifications included a doctorate in music from Trinity College, Dublin. Initially named the Church Choral Society, the organisation’s principal aim was to improve the teaching of church music. A year later, in 1873, the college became the College of Church Music, and subsequently in 1876 was incorporated as the Trinity College London. Initially, only male students could attend and they had to be members of the Church of England. The college’s diverse activities in the early years included choral singing classes and teaching instruction in church music.

In 1880, the college moved to 13 Mandeville Place off Wigmore Street in central London, which remained its home for over a hundred years. Following acquisition of the neighbouring 11 Mandeville Place in 1917, the two buildings were united in 1922 through extensive structural alterations, including the addition of a Grecian portico, a first floor concert hall and an impressive staircase. The building is now occupied by the School of Philosophy and Economic Science.

The college moved to Greenwich in 2001, taking up residence in King Charles Court in the Old Royal Naval College. The east wing of King Charles Court was constructed by John Webb as part of a rebuilding of Greenwich Palace; it was subsequently absorbed into the Royal Naval Hospital complex, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren, which had later become part of the Royal Naval College (RNC). To make the buildings suitable for Trinity's use and remove the accretions of a century of RNC occupation required a substantial refurbishment programme. Work to provide new recital rooms revealed that the building's core incorporates masonry from the Tudor palace.

Trinity College London was founded in 1877 as the external examinations board of Trinity College of Music, and administered examinations and diplomas until 1992, when the two organisations separated. Trinity College London validated Trinity College of Music's Graduate Diploma (the GTCL) before it was replaced by the BMus model in 1997. Today, the TCL’s examinations are taken by students in over 60 countries, giving external students the opportunity to attain qualifications across a range of disciplines in the performing arts and arts education and English language learning and teaching. Trinity College London and Trinity Laban maintain a partnership, with Trinity College London funding scholarships.

Trinity College of Music has a historical association with Freemasonry, with the Trinity College Lodge No 1765 being founded in 1878 by seven early teaching members of the college who were freemasons, including Henry George Bonavia Hunt. Trinity College Lodge is no longer associated with Trinity Laban. However, by co-incidence, the College's patron, the Duke of Kent, has been Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England since 1967.