Conservatorium van Amsterdam

The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam is the largest music academy in the Netherlands, offering programs in classical music, jazz, pop, electronic music, early music, music education, and opera. History The oldest predecessor of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam was founded in 1884 as the Amsterdamsch Conservatorium, four years before the completion of the Concertgebouw. In 1920, a competing music academy was established in Amsterdam by a society called 'Muzieklyceum'. The Bachzaal, used by the Amsterdamsch Conservatorium, was completed in 1931. In 1976, the Amsterdamsch Conservatorium, Conservatory of the Muzieklyceum Society, and the Haarlems Muzieklyceum merged to form the Sweelinck Conservatorium. This "new" academy of music moved to the former savings bank building in the Van Baerlestraat in 1985. In 1994 the Sweelinck Conservatorium merged with Hilversums Conservatorium to form the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. From 1998 its training programmes took place in their facilities in Van Baerlestraat and the Nieuwe Vaart. In 2008 the school moved to Oosterdokseiland.