Ernesto de la Guardia, a member of the Wagnerian Society of Buenos Aires, first proposed the creation of a national conservatory. He gained support from the presidentMarcelo Torcuato de Alvear and his wife Regina Pacini a noted soprano, the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación was founded by Argentine musician Carlos López Buchardo, among others, on July 7, 1924. Based upon the School of Lyric and Scenic Art held at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the conservatory focused on both lyric and theatrical studies, providing instruction in composition, vocal and instrument music, recitation and speech. Carlos López Buchardo became the first director and the first assistant director was. The conservatory began its operations at the Teatro Colón. Within a few years, in 1930 the Conservatory relocated to the upper floors of the Teatro Nacional Cervantes. In 1928, renowned Russian prima ballerina, Elena Smirnova was hired as the first professor of dance of the Conservatory. In 1939, the name was changed to the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Arte Escénico and it was renamed again upon the death of Buchardo at the end of 1948. The conservatory was renamed to honor its first director, and has since been known as the Conservatorio Nacional de "Carlos López Buchardo". In 1950, the Dance Department was split from the organization with the founding of the National School of Dance and then between 1957 and 1958, the Theater Arts Department was separated from the Conservatory to create the National School of Theater. Moving several times in the 1940s, by 1982, the Conservatory established its current location in the Palacio Rocca Avenida Córdoba 2445.
Modern organization
The National Conservatoire was divided in 1989 into the present and independent Escuela Nacional de Música and the Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Música. In 1995, the middle level of the National Conservatorium is assigned to the government of the city of Buenos Aires, which is in 1998 named Conservatorio de Música de laCiudad de Buenos Aires.
