Sydney Conservatorium of Music /

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and sometimes known as ‘The Con’) is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia. Located adjacent to the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens, the Conservatorium incorporates a faculty of the University of Sydney, the community-based Conservatorium Open Academy and the Conservatorium High School. Originally commissioned in 1815 as the stables for the proposed Government House of New South Wales, the oldest Conservatorium building was designed by the convict architect, Francis Greenway. A gothic structure with turrets, the building was described as a "palace for horses" and is a portrayal of the romantic vision of Governor Lachlan Macquarie and the British architectural trends of the time. The stables, located close to picturesque Sydney Harbour, reflect the building techniques and the range of materials and skills employed during the early settlement era. In 1915 the NSW Government under William Holman allocated £22,000 to the redevelopment of the stables into a music school. The NSW State Conservatorium of Music opened on 6 March 1916 under the directorship of the Belgian