The Conservatory of Music of Oporto

Founded in 1917, the Conservatory of Music of Oporto, Music School of Artistic Specialized Education is one of the reference schools in Portugal in this area of education.

Currently, with more than 1000 students, it offers all levels and cycles of education, including the 1st Cycle / Musical Initiation, the Basic Course of Music / Gregorian Chant and the Secondary Course of Music / Singing, also offering the Jazz Variant.

Thanks to the action of forefront musical personalities, the Conservatory has carried out a relevant trajectory for its artistic quality, based on the competence of its teachers and the rigor and exigency of its tuition. In the history of the Conservatory of Music of Oporto teachers of the highest pedagogical and artistic qualification are enrolled, as well as students who were important individualities of Portuguese music, such as interpreters, composers, conductors, teachers, researchers or in other relevant functions in the area of music. As far as legacy is concerned, the Conservatory of Music of Oporto has been, throughout its existence, a faithful custodian of the property of several prominent musical personalities, including scores, books, works of art, musical instruments, various documents and personal or institutional items with museological interest. This deposit of legacy funds represents an important documentary contribution on personalities of the cultural and musical life of the city of Oporto, with both historical and educational value.

It is worth mentioning the estate of cellist Guilhermina Suggia, the musical estate of composer and violinist Nicolau Ribas, miscellaneous documentation on Moreira de Sá, Cláudio Carneyro, Óscar da Silva, Berta Alves de Sousa or the Italian tenor Roncalli, who lived in the city of Porto. Among the bibliographical donations are those of Margarida Brochado, of Prof. José Delerue, Father Ângelo Pinto and Fernando Correia de Oliveira.

There are some paintings and drawings of outstanding painters of the city of Oporto, as well as a remarkable set of photographs of personalities connected to the Conservatory, signed by famous authors or photography studios. There has been a major effort in recent years to build an archive of sound and image records, in addition to the written records of auditions and concerts. These documents are of great interest, not only for the assertion of the Conservatory's identity, in which all members of its educational community can identify themselves, but also for the consolidation of the public sector of the Specialized Artistic Education of Music, as a professional Artistic Education, which this school has always assumed and defended.

Director of Conservatory of Music of Oporto,
António Moreira Jorge