Edge Rewrite
everything Source code View original
// HTMLRewriter · presentation

This page was redesigned at the edge.

Cloudflare fetched the original article and streamed it through HTMLRewriter to apply an entirely new visual system without rebuilding the source page.

// request.cf · coarse context

A page that knows where it met you.

Only coarse request metadata is shown. This demo does not display or persist visitor IP addresses.

Country
US
Cloudflare location
CMH
Connection
HTTP/2
Language
Not provided

Ray ID: a2a9b5925bb0b7b5

Jump to content

// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Conservatory of Music of Kansas City say? Note-worthy.

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Conservatory of Music of Kansas City
Location
4420 Warwick Boulevard

Kansas City
,
Missouri

United States
Information
Other namesHorner Institute–Kansas City Conservatory of Music
Kansas City–Horner Conservatory of Music
Former namesKansas City Conservatory of Music and Art (1906–1926)
Horner Institute of Fine Arts (1914–1926)
School typeConservatory (music school, art school) private; later publicly owned
EstablishedJuly 1, 1926 (100 years ago) (1926-07-01)
FounderCharles F. Horner
ClosedSeptember 1, 1959 (66 years ago) (1959-09-01)

The Conservatory of Music of Kansas City was a school of art, music, and drama in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It was formed in 1926 through the merger of the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Art and the Horner Institute of Fine Arts. In 1959, it became a part of the University of Kansas City, now the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

History

[edit]

Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Art

[edit]

John A. Cowan established the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Art on September 10, 1906.[1][2] Cowan was previously the director of the Oratory and Elocution Department at Manual Training High School in St. Louis.[2] In 1907, the school moved to a three-story building on the corner of Eleventh and Oak Streets.[2]

In 1916, Cowan gave the conservatory to the city of Kansas City, Missouri. Thus, it became the first publicly owned music conservatory in the United States.[1]

Horner Institute of Fine Arts

[edit]

The Horner Institute of Fine Arts was opened by Charles F. Horner and Earl Rosenberg on September 7, 1914.[3][4][5] Horner was a co-founder of the Redpath-Horner Chautauqua and the Lyceum Bureau, the largest promoter of musical programs, lectures, and plays in the United States.[4][6][5] Horner was the institute's president.[7] Rosenberg, a conductor and vocalist from Lindsborg, Kansas, was the institute's founding director.[3][7][5]

The Horner Institute opened a rented building at 36th and Broadway in Kansas City, Missouri.[3][7] When it opened, it had 250 students and twelve faculty members.[8] Founding faculty included pianist Floyd Robbins and violist Forrest Schulz, also from Lindsborg.[3] Initially, it trained musicians for Horner's Chautauqua programs, which were held in nine states and were headquartered in Kansas City.[5] However, the institute eventually expanded the needs of the Chautauqua but still focused on training professional musicians.[5] In the fall of 1920, the Horner Institute moved to a new 3,000-square-foot facility at 3000 Troost Avenue.[6] At that time, the institute had 1,000 students.[6] In 1923, it had 1,700 students and 37 faculty members.[8]

Merger

[edit]

On July 1, 1926, the Horner Institute absorbed the failing Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Art, forming the Horner Institute–Kansas City Conservatory of Music.[1][9][5] After the merger, Horner remained the school's president.[10] In 1928, it changed its name to the Kansas City–Horner Conservatory of Music.[11]

In 1929, the school had 4,000 students and was the third-largest music school in the U.S.[1] In 1934, the nonprofit school was reorganized as the Conservatory of Music of Kansas City.[9]

On September 1, 1959, the conservatory merged with the University of Kansas City, a institution formed from Horner Junior College.[1][4][9] It is now the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory.[1][5]

Campus

[edit]

It moved to a new location on 19 East Armour Avenue, finally moving to a three-acre site at 4420 Warwick Boulevard in August 1951.[9] It also had a campus in Kansas City, Kansas.[where?] After a $250,000 construction project, the campus expanded to include Grant Hall and Russell Stover Memorial Auditorium in September 1955.[9]

Academics

[edit]

The Kansas City Conservatory of Music taught music (flute, harp, organ, piano, reed instruments, violincello, vocal music, as well as ensemble playing, music composition, harmony, public-school music, sight reading); and art (china painting, drawing sketch work, oil painting, water color), and drama (dramatic art, elocution, oratory), and languages (French, Italian, Spanish).[2]

The Horner Institute of Fine Arts offered Bachelor of Arts degrees and certificates in all branches of music and expression.[6] The school provided instruction in music (harmony, music history, piano, voice, violin), art (pencil sketching, watercolor), and drama (dramatic art, language, public speaking).[7][5]

Student life

[edit]

The institute had chapters of the Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity for women, the Phi Mu Gamma professional-arts sorority, the Mu Phi Epsilon professional-music fraternity, the Lambda Phi Delta professional–fine-arts sorority, the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity, and Zeta Alpha Chi.[12][13][14][15][10]

Notable people

[edit]

Following are some of the notable people associated with the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Arts, the Horner Institute of Fine Arts, and the Conservatory of Music of Kansas City.

Alumni

[edit]
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Faculty

[edit]
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Conservatory History | Conservatory". University of Missouri–Kansas City. Archived from the original on August 3, 2025. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "To Teach Music and the Arts". Kansas City Times. September 1, 1906. p. 1. Retrieved October 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "To Open a New School of Music". The Kansas City Star. May 17, 1914. p. 41. Retrieved October 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 "Charles Horner (1847–1967)". The Kansas City Star. May 21, 2000. p. 264. Retrieved October 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lush, Paige (August 8, 2013). Music in the Chautauqua Movement: From 1874 to the 1930s. McFarland. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-0-7864-7315-1 – via Google Books.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "More Pupils at Fine Arts". Kansas City Journal. September 5, 1920. p. 25. Retrieved October 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Horner Institute of Fine Arts". The Kansas City Star. June 13, 1914. p. 11. Retrieved October 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "The House of Horner". The Lyceum Magazine. 32 (9): 31. February 1923 – via Google Books.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Music School to K.C.U." Kansas City Times. June 10, 1959. pp. 1, 10. Retrieved October 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 Musical America's Guide: A Digest of the Musical Resources of the United States and Canada. Musical America Company. 1927. p. 199 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ "Kansas CIty - Let's Finish the Job". The Kansas City Post. September 18, 1928. p. 20. Retrieved October 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Music". The Kansas City Post. September 24, 1922. p. 39. Retrieved October 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Pledges for the Zeta Chapter of Phi Mu Gamma at the Horner Conservatory and College, Kansas City". The Kansas City Star. February 7, 1932. p. 59. Retrieved October 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Anson, Jack L.; Marchesani Jr., Robert F., eds. (1991). "Title Page". Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. pp. V-27–29. ISBN 978-0-9637159-0-6. OCLC 25278937.
  15. ↑ Shepardson, Francis Wayland, ed. (1930). "Lambda Phi Delta". Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (12th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: The Collegiate Press/George Banta Publishing Company. p. 490 – via HathiTrust.
  16. ↑ Conyers, James L. (May 20, 2015). Black Lives: Essays in African American Biography. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-47578-1 – via Google Books.
  17. 1 2 Frankenstein, Alfred V.; Spaeth, Sigmund (1927). Who Is Who in Music: Biographical Reviews, Pictorial and Other Features of Interest to and Concerning Persons in the World of Music... Berghan Publishing Company – via Newspapers.com.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conservatory_of_Music_of_Kansas_City&oldid=1368476018"