The building dates from 1879 and was previously the premises of the Tonic Sol-Fa College, established there by the pioneering music educator John Curwen.
In 1897 the Earlham Hall was added to the front of the property as a public performance space seating around 500 people.
The buildings of the school still stand, although somewhat altered as the Cherubim and Seraphim Church.
In 1904 these schools were amalgamated with the London Academy of Music, but by mutual arrangement this connection has been terminated, and Mr. Bonner and his son, Mr. Frank Bonner, will confine their energies to The Metropolitan Academy of Music.
After World War I, this rose to 5,000 – peaking at 5,600 in 1926 – the largest music institution in the country at the time.