Boston Conservatory Governance records, 1867-2017

The Boston Conservatory of Music was founded in 1867 by German-born composer and violinist Julius Eichberg, who established the school with the dual mission of serving as a community music school and as a professional training academy. The Conservatory was the first conservatory in the nation to admit both women and Black students, the first to establish a grand opera department, the first to create a professional training program in dance with equal emphasis on both European classical ballet and American modern dance, and the first to grant undergraduate degrees in all three major arts disciplines: dance, music, and theater. Together with Berklee College of music, the Boston Conservatory was a founding member of the Pro Arts Consortium in 1983. In 2016, the Boston Conservatory merged with Berklee College of Music, becoming the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

1867: The Boston Conservatory opens at Mason and Hamlin’s building at 154 Tremont St., Boston. Julius Eichberg is Director.

1870: First Boston Conservatory diploma awarded to Richard E. Bobbitt

1878: Eichberg Quartet, the first all-female professional string quartet, formed by Eichberg

1887: Coronetist P.G. Lowry studies at the Conservatory under Henry C. Brown, becomes the first African-American student to complete a training program at the school

1893: Roscoe Marriner Floyd assumes presidency following the death of Eichberg, with Herman P. Chelius as musical director

1896: Incorporated as Boston Conservatory of Music, Inc

1898: Fire at Conservatory studios on Tremont Street

1905: Reincorporated following a period of non-operation

1914: Re-established as Boston Conservatory and College of Oratory.

1920-1932: Boston Pops conductor Agide Jacchia is president, reorganizes Conservatory

1920: Establishes nation’s first grand opera department

1928: Conservatory moves to new location at 256 Huntington Avenue opposite Symphony Hall

1932: Ester Ferrabini Jacchia is temporary Director following Agide Jacchia’s death

1933: Merger with National Associated Studios of Music led by alumnus Albert Alphin

1933-1967: Albert Alphin is president

1935: Re-established as Boston Conservatory of Music

1936: Dissolves as a business corporation and becomes a nonprofit organization; first classes held at 26 The Fenway

1938: Authorized to award bachelor of music degrees, is the first to offer a degree in music education

1939: 32 The Fenway purchased

1940: William Andrew Rhodes awarded a composition degree, becoming the first black composer to graduate from a Boston institution.

1943: Dance Division established by Jan Veen, is the first integrated department of ballet and modern dance at the college level in the country

1946: Theater Division established with assistance from Harlan F. Grant

1949: Theater building at 31 Hemenway Street opens

1951: Conservatory authorized to award Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in drama and dance, is the first conservatory to offer an undergraduate degree in drama

1958: First conservatory to offer undergraduate degrees is musical theater, also receives authorization to grant degrees of Master of Music and Master of Music Education,

1964-1965: 54 and 8 The Fenway purchased

1967-1969: George A. Brambilla is president

1969-1977: Dr. Herbert Philpott is president

1979-1981: Dale A. Duvall is president

1981-1998: William Seymour, former associate dean, returns to the Conservatory as President

1982: Official name change to The Boston Conservatory

1983: ProArts Consortium founded with Berklee College of Music

1998-2016: Richard Ortner is president

2006: First capital campaign launched

2007: First conservatory to offer a private music lessons program to community members on the autism spectrum

2011: 132 Ipswich St purchased

2015: First conservatory to offer graduate degrees in music education and autism

2016: Merger with Berklee College of Music, renamed Boston Conservatory at Berklee

2017: Cathy Young named Executive Director, the institution’s first appointed female leader

Timeline adapted from https://bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/about/history