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The Yorkshire College of Music & Drama
is a non-profit making charitable trust, registered with the Charity
Commission no. 0529220, run by a Board
of Trustees on a voluntary basis.
Since the Yorkshire College was founded, our aim has been to introduce
the pleasures of music, singing and drama to as wide a public as
possible. Children benefit from having individual lessons at their
own pace, and for adults, learning an instrument or taking up singing
opens up a newly enriched world. Although exam tuition is offered
for all the main musical and dramatic examination boards, taking
exams is optional and the College encourages students to develop
a broad
range of
musical experiences, before deciding whether to take examinations.
The College receives no grants from any source. Our funding comes
mainly from tuition fees, which we aim to keep as low as feasible,
in order for the courses to be as accessible to as many people
as
possible. We are sometimes helped by the receipt of donations,
and if the aims of the College strike a chord with you, and you
would be willing to support the College with a donation, no matter
how small, we would very much appreciate your gift. Cheques should
be made payable to “The Yorkshire College of Music & Drama” and
sent to 19 Shire Oak Road, Headingley, Leeds LS6 2DD.
A sincere “thank you” to all of you who make a donation.
Dr Simon Lindley
on behalf of the Board of Trustees
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Since 1965, the Yorkshire College of Music & Drama
has been a non-profit making charitable trust, run by a Board of
Trustees serving the College on a voluntary basis.
One of the Trustees, Mr Donald Halliday, is a founder
member of the Trust, sharing an enthusiasm for singing and drama
with Madame Stiles-Allen (see History of the Yorkshire
College), and being responsible for securing the future of the
College by obtaining charitable status.
Mr Keith Foster, Trustee, brings his expert commercial experience to the benefit of the College, together with undertaking responsibility for the upkeep of the building.
Mrs Marian Gent-Monks JP, Trustee, is an Honorary Alderman
and former deputy Lord Mayor of Leeds. Together with fellow Trustee,
Mr Michael Sayles Fox DL, a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire and
like Mrs Gent-Monks former deputy Lord Mayor of Leeds, they offer
the Yorkshire College invaluable experience in running a publicly
accountable organisation.
Dr Simon Lindley is the most recent Trustee to be appointed. Dr Lindley is well known to many as the
Organist of Leeds Parish Church and Leeds City Organist, and the breadth
of his musical experience is beneficial to the Yorkshire College
in innumerable different ways. For more information on Dr Lindley’s musical background and current activities, visit www.simonlindley.org.uk.
The Board of Trustees is supported in its role by key
members of the teaching staff, who are Honorary Trustees. These notably
include Miss Margaret Dawson, Mr Tony Myers and Miss Hazel Smith,
all of whom have made an incalculable contribution to the life of
the Yorkshire College during their many years of service. In fact,
Margaret’s connection with the College can be traced back to
the days when she was a pupil of the late Victor Helliwell, whose
support for the College is mentioned in the “History of the
Yorkshire College” below. Further details about the background
and achievements of each of the teaching staff can be found by visiting Teachers.
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History of the Yorkshire College
The year is 1894. Queen
Victoria is enjoying a revival of popularity and William Gladstone
is still Prime Minister at the age of 85. The first modern Olympics
will not be held for another two years, and it will be another
decade before the first rugby international takes place. Brahms
is still very much alive, and the gramophone has just been invented.
It is only a year since Verdi composed his opera, Falstaff, at
the age of 80, and since Tchaikovsky wrote the symphony destined
to become his requiem, the Pathétique. It is 1894 - the year
that the establishment to become the Yorkshire College
of Music & Drama was founded in Leeds.
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The early years
The College was the brainchild of the Haddock family, who had
a long tradition as part of the Leeds music-making scene. Indeed
it was under the leadership of one of the Haddocks that the
inaugural
concert
of the first Leeds Orchestra had taken place in 1864 at the then
newly built Town Hall, performing works by Beethoven,
Mozart
and Rossini. Several generations later, in 1932, it was another
member of the family, Mr G Marston Haddock, who was one
of the founder members of the Leeds Music Club still
flourishing today.
Under the auspices of the Haddocks, the Yorkshire College thrived
throughout the first decades of the twentieth-century, even enjoying
royal patronage. Eventually the baton was passed to Mr Victor Helliwell,
another founder member of the Leeds Music Club, and the College
continued to flourish.
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A tribute to Madame Stiles-Allen
It was during this period that the College established its reputation in the fields of singing and drama, but sadly in 1964, Victor Helliwell died and the College found itself without premises. After a very difficult period, a benefactor came to the rescue in the form of Madame Lilian Stiles-Allen.
Madame Stiles-Allen, a renowned soprano in the 1920s and 1930s,
performed with such illustrious conductors as Sir John Barbirolli
and Sir Henry Wood (who founded the Promenade concerts at the Royal
Albert Hall). Her recordings included Vaughan Williams’ Serenade
to Music with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and also Cavalleria Rusticana
with the Covent Garden Royal Opera House - both recordings
now available on CD.
In the 1940s, Madame Stiles-Allen decided to pass on her expert
knowledge of the voice to the next generation of budding singers.
One of her protégées was Miss Julie Andrews, who started early
lessons with Madame Stiles-Allen at the age of eight, before going
on to become an international actress and film star.
It was during this time that the paths of Madame Stiles-Allen and the Yorkshire College started to merge, and when Madame Stiles-Allen heard of the difficulties that the Yorkshire College was facing in finding suitable premises, she generously made her house - 19 Shire Oak Road - available to College students.
Madame Stiles-Allen was born just two years after the Yorkshire College was founded. In parallel with the Yorkshire College, her life was dedicated to the performing and teaching of music, and it is a fitting tribute to her love of music that her four-hundred year old home is now owned by the Yorkshire College of Music & Drama for the benefit of future generations of musicians, actors and singers.
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May we share your memories?
Madame Lilian Stiles-Allen, without whose patronage the Yorkshire College could not have survived, died in 1982. Do you have any personal memories of her that you would be willing to share, and possibly to have published, either on our web site or in a brochure about the Yorkshire College? Or do you remember any of the other individuals who have played such an important role in the history of the College, such as Victor Helliwell or members of the Haddock family?
If the answer is yes, then please contact us,
via email if possible, or write to us at 19 Shire Oak Road, Headingley, Leeds LS6 2DD. If you are able to send photographs, we would be thrilled to receive them, but please note that all photographs must be copyright free. If you would like the photographs to be returned to you, please send a stamped addressed envelope and please make sure you write your name, address and telephone number on the back of the photograph.
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