Augustana College Conservatory of Music records

The Augustana College Conservatory of Music was established on January 18, 1886 as a separate school within Augustana College and Theological Seminary. Professors Olof Olsson, C. W. Foss, J. Lindahl, C. L. E. Esbjorn and Rev. G. W. Sandt acted as the first board of trustees of the conservatory.¹ The conservatory, later known as the School of Music, continued to maintain its own administration over the years and saw a steady rise in enrollment. Many college faculty participated in music events and ensembles both on campus and in the Quad Cities community.

At times the terms “Conservatory” and “School” are used interchangeably within the content of this collection. President Conrad Bergendoff was a strong proponent of the value of music both in a person's life as well as a part of a liberal arts education. In 1958, however, it had become evident with the changes in departmental curriculum on campus that the School of Music would be more beneficial to its students if it was integrated as its own department within the college.² The School of Music became the Department of Music within the Division of Fine Arts in 1958.³

Within the Conservatory and Music Department at Augustana, there are different classes and ensembles for the education of students, as well as a fraternity and sorority (Delta Tau chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota and Zeta Beta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinphonia respectively).

1. Augustana Conservatory Board Minutes, 5 October, 1885, in MSS 230 Conservatory of Music Records, Special Collections, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.

2. Thomas Tredway, Coming of Age, Rock Island, IL: Augustana College, 2010, p. 53.

3. "Bulletin of Augustana College Catalog Announcements for 1958-1959, Catalog Record for 1957-1958," Rock Island, IL: Augustana College, April 1958, p. 4.