Birmingham Conservatory of Music

The Birmingham Conservatory of Music, founded by Benjamin Guckenberger in 1895, was a notable music school with a full time faculty in several specialties. It was located at 1816 2nd Avenue North.

William Gussen became the director in 1903, and was succeeded by his wife, Edna Gockel Gussen, who was also the conservatory's first graduate. A branch of the conservatory operated in Florence (Lauderdale County).

In 1940 the conservatory moved into the ground floor of the Simpson Building on the campus of Birmingham-Southern College. A system of sharing facilities and transferring credits between the institutions was initiated immediately, and in 1953 the conservatory was fully merged into BSC's music department, as the Birmingham-Southern College Conservatory of Fine and Performing Arts.

Notable faculty

• Ottakar Cadek
• Joe Gauggel
• Carolyn Pfau
• Hugh Thomas
• Albert Urbach
• Dorsey Whittington
• Frances Whittington

Notable students

• Billie Anderton
• Ollie Backus
• Amos Hudson
• Hugh Martin
• Ruth Matthews
• Madelyn Poole
• Ray Reach
• Ezra Sims
• LaDonna Smith
• Ben Summerford

References

• Musical Alabama (1925) Montgomery: Alabama Federation of Music Clubs/Paragon Press.