Royal Academy of Music

The Royal Academy of Music serves as Britain's oldest conservatoire, but its early years were far from smooth. When the school first opened its doors in eighteen twenty-two, it was located on Tenterden Street in a building so poorly laid out that students reportedly compared the interior to a confusing maze. The institution faced such severe financial instability during its nineteenth-century infancy that it very nearly closed down, a near-death experience that eventually spurred the creation of its rival, the Royal College of Music, to ensure the country would not be left without a premier place for musical training.