A music school or conservatoire (British English) — also known as a conservatory (American English) or a conservatorium (Australian English) — is an institution dedicated to teaching the art of music, including the playing of musical instruments, musical composition, musicianship, music history, and music theory.

Most music schools are tertiary level institutions, and they may either be independent or part of a university. Many music schools originated as vocational training centres for would-be professional musicians, often outside the main academic structure. These institutions have retained an emphasis on performance into the 21st century, while also adopting a more formal academic approach. On the other hand there are university music departments, which originally placed more emphasis on academic study of music, but often place greater emphasis on performance now than they did in the past. The two groups overlap more than they used to, with the specific emphasis varying from one institution to another.

Prominent music schools

External links

• World Music Central's guide to Music Schools. This guide centers on music schools that teach world music and roots music in general.

School types | Music education | Music schools

Konzervatorijum | Konservatorium | Konservatorium | Conservatoire | Conservatorio | קונסרבטוריון | კონსერვატორია | Conservatorium | 音楽学部 | 音樂學系