The community music school that helped produce such legends as Liberace and Gene Wilder celebrates more than a century and a bright future of making “music accessible to all”
MILWAUKEE – The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music (WCM), the largest independent non-profit music school in Wisconsin, has reached a milestone anniversary—125 years of outstanding music education and community programming. Since its founding in 1899, the organization has mainly served southeastern Wisconsin, and continually innovated and expanded its offerings to meet the evolving needs of the region, most recently, by filling the gaps in funding for music education in public schools.
In celebration, Mayor Cavalier Johnson has proclaimed Monday, December 16 through Friday, December 20, 2024, to be Wisconsin Conservatory of Music Week across Milwaukee. The proclamation states, “The City of Milwaukee congratulates the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music for 125 years of inspiring and educating the community; and further wishes them many more years of success, growth, leadership, and excellence.”
Mayoral proclamation and WCM’s historical guide are attached.
With such famous former students as Liberace and Gene Wilder, WCM is still producing entertainment icons like Justin Hurwitz, the recent Academy Award-winning composer of La La Land, and Angie Swan, one of the most successful female guitarists of our time. Today, WCM serves more than 10,000 students of all ages and abilities throughout Milwaukee, keeping true to its century-old mission of “Inspiring individuals and communities through exceptional music education, accessible to all.”
Founded in 1899, by William Boeppler, Dr. Louis Frank, and Hugo Kaun with a faculty of 26, most of WCM’s first students were young women aspiring to be music educators. For many decades, WCM offered bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and the arts, but eventually phased out these programs as colleges and universities in the state began to offer similar degrees. Always innovative and attentive to cultural trends, WCM now offers a comprehensive range of private, group, and ensemble instruction in a wide variety of styles, serving students of all ages.
After 125 years, the list of WCM alumni is extensive. Many world-renowned performing artists studied at the conservatory such as Władziu Valentino Liberace, Liz Lerman, Pamela Britton, Gene Wilder, Justin Hurwitz, Kate Baldwin, Angie Swan, Lynne Arriale, Daron Hagen, Rick Germanson, David Hazeltine, Brian Lynch, and Dan Nimmer.
Looking ahead, WCM is focused on continued growth and expansion. After achieving debt-free status in 2017, the Conservatory has been building its endowment to ensure the sustainability of music education in Wisconsin. In the past five years, WCM has launched a pioneering fellowship program for emerging Black and Latine classical musicians, taken on the management of Milwaukee’s Children’s Choir, and become the first U.S. institution to offer the innovative Royal Conservatory of Music SmartStart™ Early Childhood Education program, reaching 1,210 students in its inaugural year.
