Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a

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performing arts conservatory in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded on February 11, 1867, as a music conservatory and later expanded to include leading programs in dance, opera, and theater. It currently offers

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

, and

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

degrees, as well as Graduate Performance Diplomas, Artist Diplomas, and Professional Studies Certificates. In 2016, Boston Conservatory merged with

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

to form "Berklee," an umbrella institution that includes

, Berklee Online, Berklee Valencia, and Berklee NYC. With this, the conservatory's name was changed to "Boston Conservatory at Berklee." Boston Conservatory remains a disparate school within Berklee, continuing to offer its signature conservatory programs. Berklee is accredited by the

New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and othe ...

(NECHE) and authorized by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education.

History

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On February 11, 1867, violinist and composer Julius Eichberg founded Boston Conservatory as a professional training academy and a community music school. It was one of the first conservatories to grant admission to African Americans and women. In 1873, Eichberg's operetta “The Doctor of Alcontara” was performed at Boston Conservatory by the first African-American

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

company in the U.S. In 1878, Eichberg established the Eichberg String Quartet, the first professional female quartet. In 1893, upon Eichberg's death, direction was assumed by R. Marriner Floyd, with Herman P. Chelius, organist and composer, serving as the musical director. Under their direction, the school was first incorporated in 1896. After the turn of the 20th century, Boston Conservatory created the first "grand opera" department in the U.S. In 1943, Jan Veen established Boston Conservatory's Dance Division, the first program to emphasize both classical ballet and America's emerging modern dance. In 1951, the school gained authority to award Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in drama and dance. Prior to 2016, Boston Conservatory was an independent private college with accredited programs in dance, music, and theater that presented more than 700 performances each year. In 2015, Boston Conservatory began talks with

to explore a merger of the two schools. On June 1, 2016, the two schools merged under an institutional umbrella called Berklee, which now consists of Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Berklee College of Music, Berklee Online, Berklee Valencia, and Berklee NYC.

Academics

Boston Conservatory awards the Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, Master of Fine Arts, and Master of Music degrees, as well as Graduate Performance Diplomas, Artist Diplomas, and Professional Studies Certificates. It also offers training and education programs during the summer for dancers, musicians, and theater artists.

Student life

Instead of dormitories, Boston Conservatory at Berklee uses Victorian

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Ty ...

s for on-campus housing. Undergraduate rooms consist of quints, quads, triples, doubles, and singles. Approximately 29% of students live on campus.

People

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

Boston Conservatory Leadership

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Universities and colleges in Boston Culture of Boston Music schools in Massachusetts 1867 establishments in Massachusetts Universities and colleges established in 1867