The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France. The Conservatoire offers instruction in music and dance, drawing on the traditions of the 'French School'.
The conservatory previously also included drama. However, in 1946, that division was moved into a separate school, the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique (CNSAD), for acting, theatre and drama. Today, the conservatories operate under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Communication and are associate members of PSL University.
The CNSMDP is also associated with the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon (CNSMDL).
History
thumb|East façade of the Conservatoire building at 15 [[rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière (state in 1907, demolished after 1911)]]
École Royale de Chant
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 in 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.
Institut National de Musique
thumb|upright|Site plan (1836) of the [[Menus-Plaisirs, the Concert Hall, and the Conservatoire]]
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.
By 1800, the staff of the Conservatory included some of the most important names in music in Paris, including, besides Gossec, the composers Luigi Cherubini, Jean-François Le Sueur, Étienne Méhul, and Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny, as well as the violinists Pierre Baillot, Rodolphe Kreutzer, and Pierre Rode.
thumb|left|upright|Site map (after 1853)
In 1853, the rues du Conservatoire and Sainte-Cécile were cut through the parts of the site which were formerly part of the Menus-Plaisirs, isolating the Conservatoire to its own site. A new entrance and façade faced the rue du Conservatoire.
Franco-Prussian War and the Third Republic
In the Franco-Prussian War, during the siege of Paris (September 1870 – January 1871), the Conservatory was used as a hospital. On 13 May 1871, the day after Auber's death, the leaders of the Paris Commune appointed Francisco Salvador-Daniel as the director. Daniel was shot to death ten days later by troops of the French Army. He was replaced by Ambroise Thomas, who remained in the post until 1896. Thomas's rather conservative directorship was vigorously criticized by many of the students, including Claude Debussy.
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File:Classe Bériot 1895.jpg|Piano class of Charles de Bériot in 1895 with Maurice Ravel on the left
File:Gabriel Fauré in his office at the Conservatoire 1918 - Gallica 2010 (adjusted).jpg|Fauré in the Director's Office at the Conservatoire, 1918
</gallery>
Fauré appointed forward-thinking representatives (such as Debussy, Paul Dukas, and André Messager) to the governing council, loosened restrictions on repertoire, and added conducting and music history to the courses of study. Widor's composition students during this period included Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, and Germaine Tailleferre. Other students included Lili Boulanger and Nadia Boulanger. New to the staff were Alfred Cortot for piano and Eugène Gigout for organ.
Delvincourt was director from 1941 until his death in an automobile accident in 1954. Delvincourt was a progressive administrator, adding classes in harpsichord, saxophone, percussion, and the Ondes Martenot. Staff included Milhaud for composition and Messiaen for analysis and aesthetics.
In 1946, the dramatic arts were transferred to a separate institution, the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique (CNSAD). Music and dance became the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP).
Delvincourt was succeeded by Dupré in 1954, Raymond Loucheur in 1956, Raymond Gallois-Montbrun in 1962, Marc Bleuse in 1984, and Alain Louvier in 1986. Plans to move CNSMDP to more modern facilities in the Parc de la Villette were initiated under Bleuse and completed under Louvier.
Traditions for flute
The tradition of the final or exit examination, the concours, has required students, at the end of their course of study, to perform in public a prepared set of musical pieces for a jury consisting of the professors and internationally renowned professionals on the particular instrument, the composer of the solo de concours, and the Director. Behind closed doors, the candidates would be given additional tasks to perform such as sight-reading. In the 20th century, the candidates were judged against a standard, and those who demonstrated outstanding mastery and artistry receive the Premier Prix, the equivalent of a diploma with high honor. Those who earned Deuxieme Prix, also received a diploma but could elect to remain to try again a year later for the top prize. Two lesser levels of distinction existed, the Premier Accessit and Deuxieme Accessit, equivalent to Honorable Mentions but without a diploma. Historically, students who failed to pass the exam on the first attempt would return for another one to two years additional study and try a second time. A student failing to earn either level diploma after two additional attempts would be terminated from the program.
Cité de la Musique
thumb|The CNSMDP new building at the [[Cité de la Musique.]]
CNSMDP moved to its new facilities in the Cité de la Musique in September 1990.
After over two centuries of male directors, Émilie Delorme, for a decade director of the European Academy of Music () at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, was appointed as the Conservatoire's first woman director on 14 December 2019. Currently, the conservatories train more than 1,200 students in structured programs, with 350 professors in nine departments.
Facilities
Former concert hall on the rue Bergère<span class="anchor" id="Salle du Conservatoire"></span>
A concert hall, designed by the architect , was inaugurated on 7 July 1811. It is in the shape of a U (with the orchestra at the straight end). It holds an audience of 1055. The French composer and conductor Antoine Elwart described it as the Stradivarius of concert halls.
In 1828 François Habeneck, a professor of violin and head of the conservatory's orchestra, founded the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire (forerunner of the Orchestre de Paris). The society held concerts in the hall almost continuously until 1945, when it moved to the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. The French composer Hector Berlioz premiered his Symphonie Fantastique in the conservatory's hall on 5 December 1830 with an orchestra of more than a hundred players. After the construction of the concert hall, the library moved to a large room above the entrance vestibule. In the 1830s, Berlioz became a part-time curator in the library and was the librarian from 1852 until his death in 1869, when he was succeeded by Félicien David. The French music historian Gustave Chouquet became the curator of the museum in 1871 and did much to expand and upgrade the collection.