Sweelinck Barok Orkest - Mieneke van der Velden

The Conservatorium van Amsterdam, located on Oosterdokseiland near Amsterdam Central Station, is the largest music academy in the Netherlands and the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts. Its origins go back to 15 September 1884, when the Amsterdamsch Conservatorium opened, founded by Julius Röntgen, Frans Coenen and Daniël de Lange, four years before the Concertgebouw even held its inaugural concert. Over the following century the institution moved repeatedly across the city, passing through the Nieuwe Achtergracht, the Keizersgracht canal house known as the House with the Heads, the Bachstraat, and eventually the Van Baerlestraat savings bank building. A 1976 merger created the Sweelinck Conservatorium, and a further merger in 1994 formed the present institution. In April 2008 everything came together in a purpose built campus on Oosterdokseiland, within walking distance of the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, the Bimhuis and the Amsterdam Public Library. The building houses four concert halls of notably different scales and purposes. The Bernard Haitinkzaal seats 450 and, unusually for a concert hall, admits natural daylight through windows, as does the 120 seat Sweelinckzaal recital hall. The Amsterdam Blue Dock, with 200 seats, is dedicated to jazz and pop, and the compact 50 seat Theaterzaal rounds out the options. All four halls are equipped for recording, meaning every concert and exam can be captured. The conservatorium covers classical music, jazz, pop, early music, opera, electronic music and music education, giving the halls a genuinely wide repertoire throughout the academic year. Beyond its own stages, the institution maintains active performance partnerships with some of the most prominent venues in Amsterdam and beyond, including the Concertgebouw, the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, the Bimhuis, Paradiso and Melkweg, as well as TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht and Muziekgebouw Eindhoven. Students regularly appear at these venues, which means the conservatorium functions as a consistent source of live music across the Amsterdam scene rather than operating in isolation from it.