The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level of

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

diploma in other countries. Graduates of Prague Conservatory can continue their training by enrolling in an institution that offers

undergraduate education Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

History

The Prague Conservatory was founded in 1808 by local aristocrats and burghers following examples of

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

(est. 1795) and

Milan Conservatory The Milan Conservatory (''Conservatorio di Milano'') is a college of music in Milan, Italy. History The conservatory was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It opened the following year ...

(est. 1807). It belongs to the oldest modern existing music conservatories in the world. Classes started in 1811, after a delay caused by the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

Bedřich Diviš Weber Bedřich Diviš Weber (9 October 1766, Velichov, nr. Karlovy Vary25 December 1842, Prague), also known by the German form of his name, Friedrich Dionys (or Dionysius) Weber, was a Bohemian composer and musicologist primarily remembered as the ...

was appointed the first director of the school. In 1891,

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example ...

joined the faculty as the head of the composition department. He was the school's director between 1901 and 1904. Dvořák's students included the composers

Vítězslav Novák Vítězslav Augustín Rudolf Novák (5 December 1870 – 18 July 1949) was a Czech composer and academic teacher at the Prague Conservatory. Stylistically, he was part of the neo-romantic tradition, and his music is considered an important ...

, Josef Suk (who later served as director of the Conservatory),

Rudolf Friml Charles Rudolf Friml"Mrs. Rudolf Friml to Receive Divorce"
...

Oskar Nedbal Oskar Nedbal (26 March 1874 – 24 December 1930) was a Czech violist, composer, and conductor of classical music. Early life Nedbal was born in Tábor, in southern Bohemia. He studied the violin at the Prague Conservatory under Antonín Be ...

, and

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life a ...

. Another director of the school was pianist Vilém Kurz. Following the creation of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1918, drama and ballet departments were established. Students in this period included

Lída Baarová Lída Baarová (born Ludmila Babková; 7 September 1914 – 27 October 2000) was a Czech actress who for two years was the mistress of the Nazi propaganda minister of Germany, Joseph Goebbels. Biography Life and career Born in Prague, Baarová ...

(dropped out),

Jiří Langmajer Jiří Langmajer (born 3 June 1966) is a Czech theatre, television, and film actor. Biography Jiří Langmajer was born in Plzeň, Czechoslovakia. He studied music and drama at the Prague Conservatory from 1981 to 1987. While still a student, h ...

Tatiana Vilhelmová Tatiana Dyková, née Vilhelmová (born July 13, 1978 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech film and stage actress. She made her professional debut in ''Indian Summer'' (1995), directed by Saša Gedeon, for which she received her first nominatio ...

(dropped out), Filip Blažek, and Zuzana Vejvodová. Katya Zvelebilova began

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), its ...

training at the Prague Conservatory before joining the Royal Ballet School in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where she is now a member of the artistic staff, having retired from professional ballet.

Instruction

Applicants must pass stringent entrance examinations, often held in several elimination rounds, to demonstrate their talent. Applications are accepted once a year (with a deadline usually at the end of November), and auditions take place at the end of January. Prague Conservatory offers instruction in several instruments, including

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a ree ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, and

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, as well as in

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music ( arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or ...

, composing,

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary dutie ...

, and

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

. The curriculum includes one-on-one music lessons, music theory studies, language training, as well as classes on general subjects. The institution has its own symphonic and chamber orchestras, choir, several chamber music ensembles and a theatre company. About 250 concerts and 40 dramatic performances take place annually. In the academic year of 2005–2006, approximately 550 Czech and 40 foreign students studied at the Conservatory.

Notable alumni

* Karel Ančerl * Jiří Bělohlávek *

František Brikcius František Brikcius is a Czech cellist. Early life František Brikcius was born in Prague. From early childhood, he began to play the cello and later studied at the Prague Conservatoire under Professor Jaroslav Kulhan. He was accepted into t ...

* František Brož * Oliver Butterworth * Andrea Černá * Ladislav Černý * Ludmila Červinková * Radim Drejsl *

Gabriela Eibenová Gabriela Eibenová (born 1972) is a Czech soprano in opera and concert, specialising in music of the Baroque and classical period in historically informed performance. Born in Prague, she studied there at the Prague Conservatory and then on a ...

Maria Forescu Maria Forescu (15 January 1875 28 October 1947) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian opera singer and film actress. During the silent and talkies era of the German cinema, she appeared in several movies as a supporting actress. When Adolf Hitle ...

Rudolf Friml Charles Rudolf Friml"Mrs. Rudolf Friml to Receive Divorce"
...

* Julius Fučík * Wolfgang Hildemann *

Jan Hřímalý Jan Hřímalý (russian: Иван Войцехович Гржимали, also ''Ivan Voitsekhovich Grzhimali''; 13 April 1844 – ) was an influential Czech violinist and teacher, who was associated with the Moscow Conservatory for 46 years in 186 ...

* Kateřina Jalovcová * Jaroslav Ježek * Jana Jonášová *

Naděžda Kniplová Naděžda Kniplová (née Pokorná; 18 April 1932 – 14 January 2020) was a Czech operatic soprano who had an active international career from the 1950s through the 1980s. Kniplová possessed a large voice with a sonorous, metallic, dark timbre ...

Pavel Kohout Pavel Kohout (born 20 July 1928) is a Czech and Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, a Prague Spring participant and dissident in the 1970s until he was not allowed to return from Au ...

Jan Kubelík Jan Kubelík (5 July 18805 December 1940) was a Czech violinist and composer. Biography He was born in Michle (now part of Prague). His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after d ...

* Rafael Kubelík *

Otomar Kvěch Otomar Kvěch (25 May 1950 – 16 March 2018) was a Czech music composer and teacher. Biography Kvěch was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. His father was a sound engineer with Czechoslovak Radio, and later held technical jobs in various industria ...

Franz Lehar Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

* Manoah Leide-Tedesco *

Zuzana Marková (soprano) Zuzana Marková (born 1988) is a Czech coloratura soprano who appears in leading roles internationally, with a focus on Italian belcanto roles, such as Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Bellini's Elvira. Training Born in Prague, Marková stu ...

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He be ...

* Pauline Metzler-Löwy *

Václav Neumann Václav Neumann (29 October 1920 – 2 September 1995) was a Czech conductor, violinist, violist, and opera director. Life and career Neumann was born in Prague, where he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Micka (violin), and ...

* Jana Obrovská *

Karel Paukert Karel Paukert (pronounced Karl Poukert) (January 1, 1935 in Skuteč in the Czech Republic) is a Czech-American organist, choir director and educator. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory, and the Ghent Conservatory, Belgium. He studied un ...

* Michael Pospíšil * Alexandre Rudajev *

František Salzer František Salzer (30 August 1902, Sušice – 23 December 1974, Prague) was a Czechoslovak Theatre Director, Theatre Actor, Film Actor, University Professor and Translator. Biography He studied at Prague Conservatory (1920–1924). In the ...

* George Schick * Otakar Ševčík * Lucijan Marija Škerjanc *

Franz Simandl Franz Simandl (August 1, 1840 – December 15, 1912) was a Czech double-bassist and pedagogue most remembered for his book ''New Method for the Double Bass,'' known as the "Simandl book", which is to this day used as a standard study of doubl ...

* Yngve Sköld * Josef Slavik * Václav Smetáček *

Eugen Suchoň Eugen Suchoň (September 25, 1908 – August 5, 1993) was one of the most important Slovak composers of the 20th century. Early life Eugen Suchoň was born on September 25, 1908 in Pezinok, (Slovakia). His father, Ladislav Suchoň, was an ...

* Josef Suk * Jana Sýkorová * Jan Talich *

Václav Talich Václav Talich (; 28 May 1883, Kroměříž – 16 March 1961, Beroun) was a Czech violinist and later a musical pedagogue. He is remembered today as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, the object of countless reissues of his ...

Jiří Tancibudek Jiří Tancibudek AM (5 March 19211 May 2004) was a Czech-born Australian oboist, conductor and teacher of great renown in his adopted country and elsewhere. His obituary in the ''Adelaide Review'', titled "Prince of the oboe", said of his play ...

Jan Thuri Jan Thuri (born 1975) is a Czech oboist born in Prague in a musical family. He is a son of a notable Czech composer, organist and a pedagogue František Xaver Thuri. Jan Thuri is a Marigaux brand ambassador. Early life After starting his musi ...

* Vaclav Vaca * Vilém Veverka * Tomáš Víšek * Sláva Vorlová *

Pavla Vykopalová Pavla Vykopalová (born 23 March 1972 in Prague) is a Czech soprano. Life Vykopalová studied singing at the Prague Conservatory and graduated in 1993; she then became a member of the Prague Philharmonic Choir. She began her soloist career as a ...

John Stepan Zamecnik John Stepan Zamecnik (May 14, 1872 in Cleveland, Ohio – June 13, 1953 in Los Angeles, California) was an American composer and conductor. He is best known for the " photoplay music" he composed for use during silent films by pianists, org ...

Notable faculty

* František Brož * Ladislav Černý * Kateřina Emingerová * Emil Hlobil * Valentina Kameníková * Saša Večtomov

References

External links

Official page
{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1808 Theatre in the Czech Republic Music schools in the Czech Republic