Our HistoryIt began with a front-page advertisement in the September 10, 1887 edition of a Halifax newspaper. The Conservatory of Music...opens September 15th, 9 am. And so began what is now the largest, oldest and most venerable of organizations for education in the performing arts east of Montreal. Affiliated with the Halifax Ladies College, by its second year of operation, the Conservatory had 250 students, with 19 faculty members teaching 12 different subjects. Dalhousie University entered the picture in 1889 when its senate granted the Conservatory the right to confer the degree of Bachelor of Music. Ties to the university continued until the 1960's when Dalhousie established its own music department. By 1903 the local media described what was by that time known as the Halifax Conservatory of Music as providing musical education unsurpassed in the Dominion. Led by a series of highly-trained musicians as Directors, the Conservatory grew with the City of Halifax, becoming intertwined with the arts and culture scene throughout the twentieth century. Expanding its performing arts options, in 1947 the Conservatory established its ballet department under the direction of Juris and Irene Gotshalk who were later instrumental in the development of the National Ballet of Canada. Three years later the ballet department expanded to encompass other forms of dance, this time directed by Gunter Buchta whose group the Buchta Dancers went on to national and international fame. Public performance has always played a key role in both the training of the Conservatory's students and in its contribution to the cultural scene in Atlantic Canada. The earliest record of public performance at the Conservatory dates back to 1891 when the Dresden Trio, one of whose members was the Conservatory's director, performed in Halifax. For 50 years after its inception, the Conservatory remained the sole source of musical performance and instruction in the community. Students and faculty in opera, ballet, choral and orchestral groups provided much-loved entertainment in Halifax and, in fact, the Halifax Conservatory Symphony is considered to be the predecessor of the modern-day Symphony Nova Scotia. This is largely credited to one of the Conservatory's longest-serving directors, Ifan Williams, Senior. Under the direction of Ifan Williams (son of the Conservatory's earlier Director) the Conservatory acquired its first permanent home, a heritage building in the centre of peninsular Halifax, and also changed its name to the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts to more clearly reflect mission and function. The first years of the new millennium are seeing a focus on the restoration of the 1910 building to its original grandeur, providing a fitting home for the Conservatory's continued contribution to the arts and culture community of the Maritimes. Fine studios are being created, dance facilities improved, and the finest concert hall in the city - The Lilian Piercey Concert Hall has been created with elevator access. The main entrances have been restored with installation of the student designed stained glass window yet to be done. The Doctor James Burchill Library was completed in March 2007. The Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts remains a non-profit institution that continues to educate and entertain the community of the Halifax Regional Municipality and beyond, providing instruction and guidance to rising stars in performance, as well as those people of all ages who simply wish to enrich their lives through studying the performing arts.
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