The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston, Massachusetts is the oldest conservatory in the United States. It was established in 1867 by Eben Tourjeé who modelled it after European conservatories.
In 1881, when Henry Higginson established the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he drew heavily on school's faculty to serve as section leaders. Today, nearly half of the BSO is composed of conservatory faculty and alumni.
When Boston established its first full-scale opera company in 1908, the manager, conductors, soloists, orchestra, chorus, library, and rehearsal rooms were all provided by the conservatory. After the demise, Boris Goldovsky's Opera Theater gave local audiences their first fully-staged performances in more than a decade. In 1958, Goldovsky's protégé Sarah Caldwell founded the Opera Company of Boston, which gained international acclaim for its innovative programming.
Initially it was located in downtown Boston but in 1902 was moved to the present building on Huntington Avenue.
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