Dramatic and Musical Conservatory of São Paulo: early years and the impacts on the cultural formation in São Paulo

• Grant number: 23/04542-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: José Geraldo Vinci de Moraes
• Grantee: Vitória de Morais Rebechi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research intends to investigate the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory of São Paulo, an educational institution inaugurated in 1906, the first of its kind in the city, whose basic objective was to form groups of artists to respond to the growing demands of the new cultural spaces. As it emerged in a context of intense social and cultural transformations, in which the regulation of the musical craft and the institutionalization of music in its various spheres were imperative, but still precarious, the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory also emerged with the expectation of guiding the role of music and the arts in society. Its impacts on events linked to societies and concert clubs, on domestic musical activities, on those related to the Church and those concerning the more informal artistic environments in the city of São Paulo have not yet been properly investigated. The various activities and events that took place at the Conservatory constitute an important set to be investigated and understood, with indications of significant impacts that went beyond its basic objective. The Conservatory seems to have configured a new and relevant element within the context of rapid and modern changes in socio-cultural relations, work and everyday life. Therefore, the research must be mainly concerned with the issue of teaching, training and the professionalization of musicians and artistic groups, in addition to the dialogues between the different dimensions related to music in São Paulo society. It will be investigated between the last decades of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, before 1930. For these reasons, more broadly, the research aims to collaborate with discussions about the modernization of Brazil and also with those concerning historical knowledge related to the arts and culture in general.