Inside the iconic red brick building in Milwaukee, the sound of cellos, pianos and guitars have echoed off its walls for more than 100 years. Congratulations Wisconsin Conservatory of Music (WCM) celebrates its 125th anniversary this year.

During this time, the conservatory educated hundreds of thousands of students. They have a long list of alumni including Gene Wilder, Liberace, and Justin Hurwitz, who won an Oscar for the score of La La Land.

Wisconsin Conservatory of Music

The current student list continues to grow. WCM has approximately 1,000 students per semester. This includes people like Josiah and Andrea Chu. He is the youngest of six siblings, all of whom took classes at WCM.

“I actually had three different teachers, and I think each of those teachers helped me significantly,” cellist Josiah Chu said.

“I honestly think it’s really fun because sometimes when we’re bored we all get together and play like random songs that we like,” said Andrea Chu, a cellist.

James Groh

WCM has a storied history. It opened in 1899. It was originally called Wisconsin College of Music. Students can specialize in many different instruments, classical
music and jazz. The college even had a dance and theater program for a short time. The school eventually also offered graduate programs. Many of the students became educators.

In 1986, the Wisconsin College of Music transitioned to the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music to focus on community music education. The switch was due in part to financial constraints and the abundance of college-level programs in the state.

A wide range of courses have been offered to students since 1899. Some of the less traditional classes include harp, flamenco guitar, whistling, heavy metal guitar, and orthophony, which is the study of high-quality vocal recordings for phonographs. More standard music classes still taught today include voice, cello, violin, guitar, and piano.

Watch the story of the Wisconsin Conservatory’s 125th Anniversary and hear incredible musicians play…

Wisconsin Conservatory of Music celebrates 125th anniversary

Although there has been much change in WCM’s history, music is consistently taught.

“To provide musical education to any adult or child who wishes to pursue it,” said Eric Tillich, president and CEO of WCM.

Over the past several decades, WCM has emphasized the importance of bringing music education to local charter and public schools. WCM partners with districts and schools to deliver strong programs.

“This is very different from just walking in and saying hey that’s a trumpet. This is what it sounds like. This really provides the basic curriculum for kids,” Tillich said.

WCM’s mission to provide music to all is made possible in part by its faculty. Instructors like Kari Johnson have taught hundreds, if not thousands, of students.

“There are a lot of kids who wouldn’t be interested in music if the conservatory faculty wasn’t a music teacher. And even as I was teaching the early childhood classes this morning, I was teaching babies that you can see later on,” piano teacher Johnson said. “Doing these lessons for a few months, he starts to respond and at that young age “He’s really starting to get a lot out of it, which is really really cool,” he said.

Wisconsin Conservatory of Music

Since 1899 the Conservatory has been dedicated to music education. Although its name and structure changed, the basic mission was the same; making music education accessible to everyone. Moving forward, WCM will focus on school programs, Tillich said.

“I think you’re going to see some of the building blocks that we’re putting in place and you’re going to see more kids in Milwaukee who haven’t had accessible music education. Really lean into that more and the organization is going to kind of take this to new levels,” he said.

After all, it is the students of the past and present who laid the foundation of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and who will continue its legacy for the next 125 years.

It’s time to watch it on time. Watch local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.

Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and more.

Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip