The Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music ceased teaching in 2008 and transitioned to the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust.
Requests for academic transcripts
If you studied at the Melba Conservatorium and require a copy of your academic transcript, please download the transcript request form and email it to us at info@melbaoperatrust.com.au. Costs for this service are outlined on the academic transcript request form.
History
The Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music was established as a private Conservatorium in 1901 after breaking away from the University of Melbourne, where it had been founded in 1895.
George William Marshall-Hall, its first proprietor, named the institution The Conservatorium of Music, Melbourne. It initially operated within the Victorian Artists’ Society Building in Albert Street, East Melbourne.
The Conservatorium continued to function as a private Conservatorium with a Sole Proprietor through its second and third Directors, Fritz Hart and Harold Elvins. When Elvins purchased the Conservatorium business, he decided to institute the Conservatorium into a non-profit company. In 1944 the Conservatorium became an incorporated company with a governing Council.
Australia’s famous diva, Dame Nellie Melba, associated herself closely with the Conservatorium, teaching there from 1915 until her death in 1931. Madame Melba prolonged her link with the Conservatorium after her death through the provision of a generous bequest. It is her association with the Conservatorium which was responsible for the institution changing its name, in 1956, to the Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music.
After several more Directors and a change of premises to 16 Hoddle Street Abbotsford, then chair Alfred Ruskin and Director Joan Arnold led the Conservatorium to purchase its own accommodation at 45 York Street Richmond. The Conservatorium remained at this location until its closure in 2008.
In 1992 the Melba Conservatorium achieved recognition of its Diploma of Music. Under a subsequent affiliation with Victoria University, the Conservatorium was able to award the degree of Bachelor of Music in conjunction with Victoria University. The Conservatorium also offered private studio tuition through its Single Studies program and short courses.
In 2002 the Melba commenced delivery of two new degree programs at Victoria University’s Sunbury campus. These programs at Sunbury provided undergraduate courses in music technology and contemporary music performance.
The Melba legacy has many strands. One thread of continuity has always been a commitment to nurturing new generations of singers. After a little more than a century, the Melba Conservatorium ceased teaching at the end of 2008. However, it finds its continuing expression in the form of the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust.
The Trust embodies precisely the same purposes and values that have sustained the Conservatorium for 108 years, nurturing young singers by supporting the development of young Australian opera singers with exceptional promise. On the closure of the Conservatorium, its assets were liquidated as a contribution to the capital base of the newly established Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust.