Moscow Conservatory Music College

Moscow Conservatory Music College, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory Academic Music College (Russian: Академическое музыкальное училище при Московской Государственной консерватории им. П. И. Чайковского) is an educational institution located in Moscow, Russia.

Founded in 1891 as Public Music College by pianist Valentina Zograf-Plaksina, in 1936 college was given the name of and an official attachment to the Moscow Conservatory.

Its full graduate program lasts four years. Entry exams are normally held for students age 15 (though students from the vocal department are usually older). Its diploma gives graduates the right to work professionally as teachers, orchestra players, conductors, operatic and choir soloists. The college can also be considered as a preparatory stage for further advancement in higher education institutions such as conservatories and universities. In that capacity college serves as an intermediary educational body. College has its own junior division, Music School, with children studying there are between the ages 6 and 15. Hence the three, together with the Moscow Conservatory, form the full educational cycle.

With the particular emphasis on musical subjects such as music theory, history of music, chamber music performance and instrumental specialization, college curriculum also includes most of the high school subjects such as math, history, science, literature and sports.

In musical circles college is often affectionately called Merzliakov College, or simply Merzliakovka, after the street name on which it is located - Merzliakov line.

There is an old and friendly rivalry exists between college and the other similar institution attached to the Moscow Conservatory - Central Music School. Some consider college students and graduates to be more academically inclined due to the special emphasis on theoretical subjects in the college curriculum, in opposed to the more public performance oriented students of Central Music School. Others deny such comparison.

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