Paris Conservatoire

The Conservatoire de Paris (pronounced: [kɔ̃.sɛʁ.va.twaʁ də pa.ʁi]; English: Paris Conservatory) is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France. The Conservatoire offers instruction in music, dance, and drama, drawing on the traditions of the "French School".

In 1946 it was split in two, one part for acting, theatre and drama, known as the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique (CNSAD), and the other for music and dance, known as the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP). Today the conservatories operate under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Communication.

On 3 December 1783 Papillon de la Ferté, intendant of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi, proposed that Niccolò Piccinni should be appointed director of a future École royale de chant (Royal School of Singing). The school was instituted by a decree of 3 January 1784 and opened on 1 April with the composer François-Joseph Gossec as the provisional director. Piccinni refused the directorship, but did join the faculty as a professor of singing. The new school was located in buildings adjacent to the Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs at the junction of the rue Bergère and the rue du Faubourg Poissonnière. In June, a class in dramatic declamation was added, and the name was modified to École royale de chant et de déclamation.

In 1792, Bernard Sarrette created the École gratuite de la garde nationale, which in the following year became the Institut national de musique. The latter was also installed in the facilities of the former Menus-Plaisirs on the rue Bergère and was responsible for the training of musicians for the National Guard bands, which were in great demand for the enormous, popular outdoor gatherings put on by the revolutionary government after the Reign of Terror.

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