The Schulich School of Music at McGill University has announced the closure of its Conservatory of Music, the community component of the prestigious institution which offered courses and examinations to the general public and which has trained many young musicians since its founding. in 1904.
The drastic drop in the number of students enrolled since the pandemic is the main cause of the closure, rendering the Conservatory financially unsustainable, according to a press release.
While more than 550 people could enroll in its courses each year in the pre-COVID era, those numbers dipped below 300 when teaching went virtual, and could continue to drop until less than 100, it is expected.
The Schulich School also wants to recover space for its main activity: university education. It provided premises free of charge to the Conservatory so that courses could be given there, in particular.
As the School expands its offer of university education programs, the spaces previously granted to the Conservatory are now extremely popularexplain Dean Brenda Ravenscroft and incoming Dean Sean Ferguson, who sign the statement.
We will always be proud of the generations of students, from toddlers to adults, who acquired musical knowledge at the Conservatoire, and proud of the generations of teachers who passed it on to them.
The announcement of the news on Facebook has reacted to dozens of Internet users, including many people who say they studied at the Conservatory and who deplored the decision of the university.
Currently registered students will be able to complete their courses, but the Conservatory will no longer accept new registrations. The institution will definitively cease its activities at the end of summer 2022.
Radio Canada
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
