It was located in the former Troxy Cinema on Commercial Road in London's East End Borough of Stepney (now Tower Hamlets).
The English singer Joan Cross, an important figure in British opera at Sadler's Wells, who guided the company through the Second World War, and others had formed the National School of Opera in 1948, but its impact was limited due to little or no language teaching or technical stagecraft.
(Nonetheless, its alumni included many successful artists such as Ava June, Marie Collier, Inia Te Wiata, Johanna Peters, April Cantelo and the D'Oyly Carte's Kenneth Sandford.)
Among the most famous of the former students was the soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa who was offered an opportunity to study there between 1966 and 1968 after winning a major vocal competition in New Zealand.
Gradually, several factors caused dissatisfaction with the Centre's activities, its high cost and remote location being the most important ones.