History
The Prague Conservatoire was founded in 1808 by local aristocrats and burghers. Classes first started in 1811, after a delay caused by Napoleonic Wars. Bedřich Diviš Weber was appointed the first director of the school.
In 1891, Antonín Dvořák joined the faculty as the head of the composition department. He was the school's director between 1901 and 1904. Dvořák's students included the composers Vítězslav Novák, Josef Suk (later served as director of the Conservatory), Rudolf Friml, Oskar Nedbal, and Franz Lehár.
The list of professors who taught at the school includes also later school's director pianist Vilém Kurz.
Following the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, drama and ballet departments were established. Among others, Lída Baarová (drop-out), Jiří Langmajer, Tatiana Vilhelmová (drop-out), Filip Blažek, and Zuzana Vejvodová studied there. Katya Zvelebilova began classical ballet training at the conservatoire before joining the Royal Ballet School in London, where she is now a member of the Artistic Staff having retired from professional ballet.
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