The Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, officially founded in 1832 but whose actual existence dates back to 1813, has since been providing education of the highest level in music and the vocal arts in Belgium. Under the impetus of teachers such as François-Joseph Fétis, the Conservatory’s first director, François-Auguste Gevaert and Joseph Jongen, some of Belgium’s finest musicians were trained here.

The Brussels Royal Conservatory, which split from its Flemish counterpart more than 20 years ago, attracts students from all backgrounds, both inside and outside Europe. It has about 600 students representing almost 30 nationalities.

The field of studies covers the two fields of music and the dramatic and vocal arts, divided into a number of sections: instrument training, singing, jazz, ancient music, music writing and theory. The studies are organised in two cycles (Bachelor in 180 credits over three years, Master in 120 credits over two years for music or 60 credits over one year for drama), with specialised  (performance) or didactic (leading to teaching) options.   

A season consisting of about 50 concerts and a festival (Courants d’Air) with over 40 events over five days helps meet one of the school’s key aims of actively introducing students to professional life and practice.

An infrastructure steeped in history - including one of Belgium’s most beautiful concert halls and a music library recognised as one of the 10  richest in the world with over a million works - permits studies of high quality, supported by an international teaching staff of artists who are all active in their given field.

Located in the centre of Brussels, close to international train stations and at the heart of the Quartier des Arts, the Brussels Royal Conservatory is surrounded by artistic and cultural institutions such as the Fine Art Museum, the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Museum of Ancient Art and the Museum of Modern Art. The Conservatory’s historic buildings lie at the heart of the Sablon district, one of the Belgian capital’s most beautiful.

The Conservatory, a higher institute of the arts within the educational system of Belgium’s French-speaking Community, is a member of the Brussels-Wallonia European university pole and, together with its partners La Cambre School of Visual Arts and the INSAS (National Institute of the Performing Arts), constitutes the Brussels College of the Arts, known as ARTes.

Information : www.conservatoire.be