Leipzig Conservatory

University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig

Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig
Former names	Conservatory of Music, Royal Conservatorium of Music, State Conservatorium of Music
Type	Public
Established	April 2, 1843
Chancellor	Wolfgang Korneli
Rector	Prof. Robert Ehrlich
Administrative staff	519
Students	813
Location	Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
Campus	Urban
Website	www.hmt-leipzig.de

The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (German: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatory of Music, it is the oldest university school of music in Germany.

The institution includes the traditional Church Music Institute founded in 1919 by Karl Straube (1873–1950). The music school was renamed ″Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy″ after its founder in 1972. In 1992, the Theaterhochschule "Hans Otto" Leipzig.

Since the beginning there was a tight relationship between apprenticeship and practical experience with the Gewandhaus and the Oper Leipzig, as well as theaters in Chemnitz (Städtisches Theater Chemnitz), Dresden (Staatsschauspiel Dresden), Halle (Neues Theater Halle), Leipzig (Schauspiel Leipzig) and Weimar (Deutsches Nationaltheater in Weimar).

The university of music and theater is one of 365 places chosen in 2009 by the Cabinet of Germany and the Office of the Representative of German Industry and Trade for the campaign Germany - Land of Ideas.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the composer and Music Director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, founded a Conservatory in the city of Leipzig on April 2, 1843. He was sponsored by a high civil servant of the Kingdom of Saxony, the Oberhofgerichtsrat Heinrich Blümner (1765–1839), who provided King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony with 20,000 Thaler.