San Francisco Conservatory of Music

The Conservatory of Music of San Francisco (SFCM) is a private music school in San Francisco, California. At the school, which also includes a Pre-College Division for young musicians, about 400 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled.

 

They give students the structure and foundation at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to excel in their studies and careers, providing a path of lifelong learning. More than any other world-class conservatory, with an integrated curriculum that breaks down barriers between the intellectual, the artist, the professional, and the individual, they concentrate on educating the whole person. Their faculty, services, and location at the heart of the music scene in San Francisco have allowed SFCM to take a leading role in the 21st-century musician's preparation and concept.

 

Mission & Vision Statement

As a professional school, we are committed to providing an extraordinary education that prepares our graduates to pursue fully engaged lives as citizens of the world. Our core mission is to transform our students: artistically, intellectually, professionally, and individually. Through the study of music at the highest level, our students learn to seek achievement in every endeavor, to convert challenge into opportunity, to understand the nature of excellence, and to pursue their dreams with vigor and determination. We believe that inspiring the imagination, cultivating the artist, honing the intellect, and developing the professional are the keys to launching innovative graduates who excel in any field. Our phenomenal faculty and our location in the heart of a magnificent city provide an experience that is unparalleled anywhere else in the world.

 

Our focus is our students, and through an innovative and unique experience, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music prepares its graduates for a lifetime of achievement and success.

 

History

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded as the Ada Clement Piano School by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead in 1917. Its first place, at 3435 Sacramento Street, was Lillian's parents' home. With three pianos, four studios, two blackboards and 40 students, the school opened.

 

The School of Ada Clement Piano grew rapidly. The name was changed to the Ada Clement Music School some years after its establishment, and then to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1923. In 1956, the Conservatory moved to 1201 Ortega Street from Sacramento Street, the home of a former child shelter. For fifty years, it lived there before moving to its next site at 50 Oak Street in 2006. It moved to the Bowes Center at 100 Van Ness in 2020.

 

Transforming the musician

SFCM learners are given the rare opportunity from day one to explore a wide variety of musical and academic disciplines while gaining dedicated training in their specialty. By conceptual experimentation, intensive artistic preparation is balanced.

 

Experience a related sequence of learning, a curricular initiative that includes history, theory, and humanities, as well as performances that illustrate the correlation between these domains. The core theme of each semester combines the academic, the creative and the historical. Conversation and partnership inevitably spring up. Performances illuminate thoughts.