Thessaloniki State Conservatory

Address

15, Frangon str. 54645, Thessaloniki

tel. 2310 510 551

Εmail: [email protected]

www.tsc.edu.gr

Having completed more than a century of service to culture, the Thessaloniki State Conservatory (TSC) is the second oldest music institution in Greece. “A school of instrumental and vocal music is established in Thessaloniki under the name ‘Conservatory of Thessaloniki’.” (Law no. 349, Government Gazette 323). The Conservatory was founded in 1914 by Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, just two years after the city’s liberation, at a particularly turbulent time for Europe and Greece owing to World War I and the National Schism. Its establishment demonstrates the importance the state placed on musical education for the city’s inhabitants. The teaching of music and the concerts to be given would become a foundation of cohesion for the then multi‑ethnic population of the city and a means of disseminating Greek culture.

Ίδρυση «Ωδείον Θεσσαλονίκης»». (Ν.349,ΦΕΚ 323). / Foundation of Thessaloniki Conservatory

The wartime and political events, of course, affected the Conservatory’s start-up. The first Director of the Thessaloniki State Conservatory, Alexandros Kazantzis, took charge in 1915 of a “non‑existent” school. “What, then, was the reality? I arrived in Thessaloniki with a single document, my appointment, and nothing else. No building, no instruments, nothing.” Yet thanks to his vision and persistence the problems that continuously arose were addressed. The Conservatory was staffed with distinguished teachers, enrolled hundreds of students, and assumed a leading role in the city’s cultural life.

Πρώτος Διευθυντής του ΚΩΘ, Αλέξανδρος Καζαντζής / First Director of (TSC), Alexandros Kazantzis

From the Conservatory’s earliest steps, finding premises was an urgent problem. After many efforts, a solution was reached in 1983 with the transfer of the emblematic historic building of the former Ottoman Imperial Bank to the Thessaloniki State Conservatory. In addition to its intellectual and cultural work, the building also preserves the Conservatory’s valuable archive — an archive that illuminates not only the history of the Conservatory itself but also that of the city. Its music library exceeds 25,000 items and includes 12,000 scores, thousands of book titles, audiovisual material, and a rich collection of rare composers’ manuscripts.

Από το Αρχείο του ΚΩΘ / From the TSC Archive

From its founding law the provision was already made for a number of needy students to be exempt from tuition fees. Today, in response to its social role, the Thessaloniki State Conservatory offers free education to all through entrance examinations. At the same time it organises seminars, educational programmes and other activities that highlight Thessaloniki’s multicultural past. Moreover, it is the only conservatory in Greece that regularly stages opera productions. Energetically, it continues to uphold its role as a vital cell of the city’s life, history and culture.

Από το Αρχείο του ΚΩΘ / From the TSC Archive

A new impetus was given to the Conservatory’s work by the major conservation and restoration investment in the building carried out by the Ministry of Culture, completed in 2024–25 with funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. This marked the Thessaloniki State Conservatory’s transition into its second century of operation and service.

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